Previously, Pooja could be found implementing a community-based wildlife conservation model in central India. Or, in Belize examining the co-management framework of protected areas to explore the replicability of the framework to her home country. Her primary research examines the impact of restoration of socio-ecological systems on vegetation, people and wildlife in India and the socio-political systems, which allow ecosystems to persist while meeting people’s natural resource needs.

Sarika's research quantifies the relationships and feedback between people and their environment to develop approaches that allow forests to persist as habitat for endangered species, while providing people with products that are vital to their everyday needs. She is passionate about mentoring young science students and engaging communities with multimedia to create grassroots support for conservation.

From mist netting endangered passerines in the snowy Himalayas to learning the art of taxidermy for natural history collections at the American Museum of Natural History, Vijay's association with conservation and research has spanned multiple fields of study that include genetic analysis, geospatial and statistical work, and natural history. His research examines the effects of climate change and land use to shape policies which will ensure impactful conservation.

Pooja Choksi
Scientist
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Sarika Khanwilkar
Scientist

Vijay Ramesh
Scientist

Akshay previously studied the ecology of the forest owlet in Madhya Pradesh, where he explored various aspects of this endemic owl's breeding biology, ranging behaviour and demography. He also worked on a survey to assess the presence of the elusive Cantor's giant softshell turtle in northern Kerala. A keen interest in understanding how animals communicate led him to the field of bioacoustics. In particular, he is interested in the drivers behind why avian species occupy particular acoustic niches.

Mayuri has a background in Engineering with a specialization in Information Technology, but having been raised in the tiger capital of the world surrounded by forests, the aura of wildlife took to her. Her passion for wildlife bloomed over time. Her interests lie in using innovative methods like conservation data science to draw insights into wildlife and ecology. She is also deeply fascinated by the nocturnal life of birds and recently had the opportunity to research the vocalization of nightjars in a central Indian landscape for her Master's dissertation at the Bharati Vidyapeeth's Institute of Environment Education and Research, Pune.

Akshay Anand
​Research Assistant

Mayuri Kotian
​Research Assistant

Meghana Srivathsa
Intern

Siddharth is a geologist by training, and a naturalist at heart. He has worked with communities and NGOs for the conservation of groundwater and ecological monitoring projects in different parts of India. Along with guiding guests in wildlife viewing activities, he worked closely with the local forest department and participated in bird counts, the tiger census and camera trapping to monitor wildlife. In the sounds of restoration project, he wants to understand the impact of forest restoration on fauna using bioacoustics.

Praver has always been fascinated with watching birds. With Birdcount India, he has undertaken bird surveys across Madhya Pradesh and subsequently, co-authored some books. He possesses a keen ear for bird calls and hopes to discover their vocal mysteries. He gets his ‘Aha!’ moments when he successfully identifies shy birds and shares a similar enthusiasm for watching common urban birds that show many fascinating yet generally disregarded behaviors. He also makes digital art on wildlife and the environment.

Devendra is a student of social work, with a keen interest in botany. He has previously worked with non-profit organizations in efforts to conserve and revive local ethnobotanical knowledge. He works with Project Dhvani scientists to collect vegetation data and understand how it relates to soundscapes.

Siddharth Biniwale
Research Collaborator

Praver Mourya
Research Collaborator

Devendra Korche
Field Collaborator

Keshav is a data scientist and A.I. researcher with work experience spanning the fields of computational linguistics, sequential recommendation systems, audio signal processing and interpretable machine learning. He is currently pursuing his master’s degree in artificial intelligence at Northwestern University. His work with project Dhvani involves building a highly accurate and scalable deep learning pipeline for automatically identifying bird species based on their vocalizations to better assist wildlife conservationists, ecology consultants, ornithologists, park rangers and bird watchers all over the world.

Pratiti is a final year Zoology major undergrad at the University of Delhi. Having grown up surrounded by Nature, nothing gives her more pleasure than to be out among the trees. Her interests span evolutionary biology, biological anthropology and animal behaviour. She believes in the notion that Nature must be conserved for its intrinsic value. With Project Dhvani she wants to create engaging educational content and help in disseminating scientific knowledge to better assist in biodiversity conservation.

From childhood memories of watching wildlife documentaries to pursuing her undergraduate in Zoology and Botany from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, Pavithra has come a long way in the quest of unravelling the mysteries of wildlife. Her interests include bioacoustics and urban, behavioural, and evolutionary ecology. At Project Dhvani, she hopes to engage in science communication on topics that are close to her heart. She believes that inspiring people about conservation through effective science communication will help create more inclusive, all-encompassing research.

Keshav Bhandari
Research Affiliate

Pratiti Majumdar
Online Outreach Intern

Pavithra Sundar
Online Outreach Intern

Taksh is an undergraduate student at the University of Delhi. His research interests broadly span Evolutionary Biology, Biogeography, Natural History, Animal Communication-currently with an emphasis on Acoustics and Conservation Science. He is passionate about birds, history and the arts. At Project Dhvani, Taksh will be carrying out work related to most of the aspects of bioacoustics and ecology, with a special emphasis on data processing, compilation and further analysis.

Taksh Sangwan
Intern

ALUMNI

Arundhati is a geologist with a keen interest in ecology and has completed field trips in the Himalayas and across central India. She has been interested in nature since she was a teenager and worked with Project Dhvani to educate people about wildlife conservation through bioacoustics. Specifically, she worked with our researchers and communicators to conceptualize and make our online interactive maps.

Dhanya graduated from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and is currently pursuing her master’s in Evolutionary Biology. Her research interests span evolutionary ecology, behavioural ecology, and conservation science. She is passionate about the arts, sustainability, and science communication, and likes the company of books and furry friends. She contributed her scientific knowledge as well as extensive science communication skills to our team. She worked with our researchers and communicators to identify vocalizing species from sound recordings and create engaging media for the public.

Risha is an undergraduate student at Azim Premji University doing a dual degree in biology and education. Fascinated by the natural world, their interests include sustainability, conservation, mental health and anything that allows them to go out near trees. Risha contributes knowledge of biology and science education to Project Dhvani. Specifically, they have worked with our researchers and communicators to translate scientific information for public accessibility, creating media for online distribution.

Arundhati Tiwari
Intern

Dhanya Bharath
Intern

Risha Vaidya
Intern

Amrutha’s research interests broadly include behavioural ecology, evolutionary biology, landscape ecology, conservation biology and bioacoustics. She recently worked on a collaborative project between IISER-Tirupati and SACON, developing a framework for the automated detection of the endangered and endemic forest owlet using passive acoustic recorders. She is keen on exploring the biogeographical vocal variations of bird species within populations.

Amrutha Rajan 
Research Assistant

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Advisory board

Project Dhvani is advised and mentored by Prof. Ruth DeFries. 

Collaborators

We would like to thank Anup Prakash and Shankar CM for supporting Project Dhvani in the early days. Friends at Foundation for Ecological Security, specifically Ishaan Agrawal, Manohar Pawar and Dhwani Lalai, provided us the support to set up field sites in central India, for which we are grateful. We thank Dr. T R Shankar Raman, Dr. Divya Mudappa and Dr. Anand Osuri for supporting our research efforts in the Western Ghats. 

Project Dhvani's work is made possible by the generous support and funding from the following organizations:

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