Special Task Force
The Special Task Force members assist the Core Team in planning and execution of various projects, programmes and campaigns.
Ashwika Kapur
Wildlife and conservation film maker Ashwika became the first Indian woman to win the prestigious Wildscreen Panda Award or the ‘Green Oscar’ in the Best Newcomer for her film Sirocco — How a Dud Became a Stud- a documentary about New Zealand’s Kakapo parrot. She is currently involved in projects with various international production houses and has also worked with David Attenborough in Jumbo-An Elephant I will never forget. She is a motivational speaker committed to the cause of inspiring the younger generation to get involved in wildlife conservation.
Sayam U. Chowdhury
Sayam is a conservation biologist and ornithologist working on protection of globally threatened species in Bangladesh and abroad for the last 12 years. His work focuses on Critically Endangered birds like the Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Baer’s Pochard and Endangered Masked Finfoot. He is the Assistant Coordinator of the International Spoon-billed Sandpiper Task Force. Among his other works, he has proposed two new protected areas in Bangladesh based on his work on riverine birds. He serves as a member to the IUCN Species Survival Commission and reviewer of several international journals.
Aritra Kshettry
Aritra is a Research Affiliate with the Centre for Wildlife Studies, Bangalore. His research interests include ecology of large carnivores and large herbivores outside protected areas and the interactions with people. He is presently funded by the Rufford Foundation to identify feasible conflict resolution methods to reduce instances of direct encounters between people and large wildlife in north Bengal. His work is in close collaboration with the West Bengal Forest Department.
Iravatee Majgaonkar
Iravatee is a wildlife biologist whose interests also cover social sciences. She is the recipient of the prestigious National Geographic Explorer Grant, 2018. She is involved in studying interactions between pastoralists and a lesser known large carnivore, the Indian grey wolf in the human use areas of Deccan peninsula in India.
Tapasi Mukherjee
Tapasi is an animator and graphic designer who specializes in conceptualizing outreach and education materials for conservation programmes and media campaigns.