ABOUT THE TRUSTEES
Sanjay Sondhi: A Dehradun-based naturalist, and an engineering graduate from the Indian Institute of Kanpur (1987), the study of natural history has been his passion for more than three decades. He spent twenty years in the corporate world and in his last assignment, he was the Managing Director of Honeywell Turbo India based in Pune. Sanjay quit his job in mid-2008 to devote himself to nature conservation and environmental protection. He writes popular columns about nature in Hindustan Times and has published technical papers and books.
Anchal Sondhi: An environmentalist, Anchal has been associated with numerous NGO's such as Kalpavriksh, and Center for Environment Education for over two decades. Her interests include urban biodiversity with a specific interest in trees, nature and environment education amongst a host of other environmental issues. She has co-authored the books “Bird of Pune” and “Common Trees and Wildflowers of Uttarakhand”.
Lokesh Ohri: An anthropologist, activist and author. He represents INTACH in Uttarakhand as its state head. He has founded Been There Doon That, a public outreach movement dedicated to educating people about heritage. He has been a fellow at the South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg, Germany, from where he received his doctorate on the political rituals of Himalayan deities. He was also Marsilus Van Inghen Fellow at the Radboud University, Netherlands. He has authored a number of books including Till Kingdom Come: Medieval Hinduism in the Modern Himalaya, Walking with Laata, On the Pilgrim Trail to Kedarnath, and Upper Ganga Region: Cultural Resource Mapping, Vols. I and II. His research is focused on Himalayan communities.
Dr. Gautam Narayan : Dr. Narayan’s main interest lies in conservation of some critically endangered animals of alluvial grassland such as the Bengal florican and pygmy hog, and their habitat. He began his career in 1980 at Bombay Natural History Society under Dr. Sálim Ali, working on vultures and other birds causing problems to aircrafts. Thereafter, he was engaged in endangered species conservation projects before becoming the BNHS Conservation Officer in 1991. In 1994, he went to Jersey to train at the Durrell Academy, and later initiated the Pygmy Hog Conservation Programme (PHCP), a collaborative project of Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, IUCN/SSC Wild Pig Specialist Group, the Assam Forest Department and the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change, Govt. of India, currently being implemented by Aaranyak and EcoSystems-India, both based in Assam. He was advisor to the Assam Haathi Project – a human-elephant conflict mitigation initiative with the Chester Zoo, Greater Adjutant Rehabilitation Programme, the Eaglenest Biodiversity Project, and continues to advise PHCP. In 2015, he became the first Indian to receive the Harry Messel Award for Conservation Leadership given by the IUCN Species Survival Commission. He was also awarded the 2014 RBS Earth Heroes Award under ‘Save the Species’ category.
