USER CONTENT - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Administrative and Finance
• Consultant Conservation Scientist

Dr. N. Baskaran obtained his Doctor of Philosophy for his study on "Ranging and Resource Utilization by Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus Lin.) in Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, southern India". He has been working on Asian elephant Population, Ecology, Behaviour and human-elephant conflict for more than ten years in various parts of India. Apart from these, he has carried out research on population and ecological aspects of various other mammals' viz. Sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), Malabar giant squirrel (Ratufa indica) and Four horned antelope (Tetracerous quadricornis) in collaboration with Tamil Nadu Forest Department and published five scientific papers on various species. He has worked with Indian Institute of Science as Post-Doctoral Fellow. He carried out the survey of elephants and their habitats in the Anamalais region of Tamil Nadu, as well as handling capacity building initiatives for the staff of Tamil Nadu and Kerala Forest Department. He is currently the Project Investigator for ANCF's conservation planning survey of the Periyar - Agasthyamalai landscape in the southern Western Ghats.

Job Titles:

• Consultant - Emerging Infectious Diseases from Wildlife ( PREDICT ) Programme

Dr. T. Gopal, former Director of Institute of Animal Health & Veterinary Biologicals, Bangalore, belonged to the first batch of veterinary students of Karnataka from Mysore University. Subsequently, he obtained his Master's degree in Pathology in 1967 from Madras Veterinary College. After serving briefly with the State Department of Animal Husbandry and University he left for U.S.A. in 1973, where he obtained a second Master's degree (Toxicology - Pathology) & Ph.D.in Pathology, from the Kansas State University in 1976 and 1977 respectively. He was also awarded the prestigious Membership of the societies of Sigma XI and Phi Zeta (1975-77). During his professional career Dr.Gopal was actively engaged in research related to animal health covering a wide range of research areas in Pathology, Toxicology and Immunology to include, Mycotoxins, animal models for carcinogenetic and other environmental interactions in causing animal disease. He served as a member of Expert Committees constituted by the Governments of India and the State Government of Karnataka, to review the causes of deaths among radio collared tigers and wild elephants. He was responsible for investigation, establishing & isolating the Rinderpest virus from Indian gaur in free living state in India. He was the head of the Research & Disease Investigation later the Director of the Institute of Animal Health & Veterinary Biologicals. Dr.Gopal heads ANCF's programme on Emerging Infectious Diseases from Wildlife.

Job Titles:

• Senior Scientist

Dr. Chanchal Kumar Sar manages the research and field programs on Asian elephants located in Odisha and its bordering states. He currently oversees a joint program between the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. of Odisha and ANCF to "assess the carrying capacity of the major elephant habitat landscapes with a view towards furthering elephant conservation measures in Odishastate". Chancal Sar completed his PhD in ecology from Meerut University in 1992 following a MSc Zoology and a post graduate diploma in ecology and environment. After an early intern stint in 1984 with Species Survival Commission, Asian Elephant Specialists Group (IUCN, North -Eastern Indian Task Force, he spent several subsequent years of his research study in aquaculture and limnology, the first of his two areas of specialization. He worked on several ICAR research projects and later joined the private freshwater aquaculture industry for four years. In 1997 Dr. CK Sar refocused his attention to the Asian elephant under Dr. DK Lahiri Choudhury an eminent elephant specialist and later worked with Prof. Raman Sukumar, a leading authority on the Asian elephant at the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science. Since then he has focussed his attention in the area of wildlife management of the central - eastern population of the Asian elephants in Odisha, Bengal and surrounding states. He specialises in habitat assessment studies of elephant reserves and forests, elephant corridor studies especially in relation with EIA assessments of heavy industry and mines and animal-human conflict mitigation. He is also well versed in liaising on elephant issues with state forest ministries and departments in the central -eastern Indian sector. Dr. CK Sar has 26 research papers / abstracts and 23 Technical reports / books to his credit.

Job Titles:

• Senior Administrator

M.O.Sriram was one of the three first trustees of ANCF and a signatory to the Foundation's deed of trust of November 1997. Initially given the responsibility of Honorary Treasurer in the Foundation , M.O.Sriram resigned his position as trustee in 2002 in order to be associated with ANCF as a full time Consultant and oversee ANCF's finance , accounts and tax management functions , statutory returns and certain administrative functions particularly documentation related to appointment of staff and external consultants for projects. M.O.Sriram is a banking professional with decades of experience in the banking and financial services industries in the country. He joined the State Bank of India in 1973 as a Probationary Officer and for a major period of his career in the bank he handled industrial finance and merchant banking functions before being deputed to SBI Capital Markets Limited, the bank's merchant banking subsidiary. He left the bank in 1994 on voluntary retirement to join the private sector , where he held the position of Vice President in Foresight Financial Services Limited ( SPIC/MCC Group) and Vice President in Sundaram Finance Services Limited . Mr. Sriram's association with ANCF since its inception is largely due to his long standing interest in the natural sciences and his realisation in more recent years of the growing need for nature conservation legislation and action. He is a knowledgeable naturalist with a special interest in ornithology.

Job Titles:

• Trustee
• Executive Director of ANCF

Mr Thomas Mathew was appointed as the Executive Director of ANCF in July 1, 2007 and was subsequently appointed as a Trustee in February 2013. A biochemical engineer and environmental scientist by training with a Bachelor of Technology degree in Chemical Engineering from...

Job Titles:

• Programme Staff Member
• Senior Scientist

Narendran completed his PhD with a dissertation on fire regimes and ecological effects in seasonally dry tropical ecosystems in the Western Ghats, India , from Michigan State University in 2006. Since graduating from MSU, he took up several teaching positions. Between January 2007 and August 2009 he was the GIS Coordinator/ Instructor at the Grays Harbor College in the Pacific NW. He taught several courses in GIS and Natural Resources Management to undergraduate students. Besides teaching he also managed a web mapping information system to improve Salmon conservation in the Pacific NW. Between October 2009 and May 2011 he took up a research position at the French Institute of Pondicherry in India . He is currently a Senior Scientist at ANCF where he devotes his time and energy to directing the GIS programme of ANCF and developing proposals to continue research on different aspects of forest fires in the Western Ghats.

Job Titles:

• Executive Secretary

Pooja acquired a Masters of Commerce degree from Mysore University in 2006. She however started her professional career much earlier in 2000 working for various companies from the IT / Software industry to the Architectural, Interior Designer and StructuralEngineering industry. The roles and responsibilities she held varied from secretarial duties to Accounts and Administration. She carries this forward to ANCF which she joined in 2010 as Secretary to the Executive Director. Pooja also supports the Accounts and Administration functions of the organisation.

Job Titles:

• Trustee
• Associate Director of the Indian Institute of Science

Prof. Balakrishnan, is the Associate Director of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. His main areas of research include Aerospace Electronic Systems, Information Security, and Numerical Electromagnetics, High Performance Computing and Networks, Digital Library and...

Job Titles:

• Trustee
• Professor at the Centre for Sustainable Technologies

Dr.N.H.Ravindranath is a professor at the Centre for Sustainable Technologies (formerly ASTRA - Application of Science and Technology to Rural Areas) Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and an Associate Faculty Member with the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian...

Job Titles:

• Founder
• Managing Trustee
• Trustee

"Raman Sukumar is a truly exceptional person - who most probably knows more about elephants than anyone else in the world and who has devoted his professional life to their survival." - Edward Whitley, Founder, Whitley Awards (Whitley Fund for Nature)....

Job Titles:

• Administration Manager

Mr . Sanjay Rattan holds a B.A. (Hons) degree in Economics and a Masters degree in Business Administration from the University of Punjab. He joined ANCF in 2008 as Administration Manager and his responsibilities include managing all administrative functions relating to ANCF ‘s Head and field offices including logistic support to various field projects. Prior to joining ANCF, he ran a small communication consultancy in Bangalore and Puttaparthi, AP, for seven years which worked in the area of content development and communications packages for CBT's and e-learning modules in education, including, book editing, technical writing brochures & reports. After a short corporate career in the early 1980s he worked for over two years on environmental technologies with Development Alternatives, New Delhi. From 1984 he focussed his interests on the interface between Nature Conservation and religious beliefs at Arpana Ashram, Karnal and Van Khandi Ashram, Sattal, Uttrakhand. From 1991 to 1993 Sanjay worked at WWF- India, New Delhi, as the Project Coordinator of the Vrindavan Forest Revival Project and later from 1994 to 1996, as Project Director of the Vrindavan Conservation Project at Vrindavan UP, in a community based program focussing on environment conservation through religious ethics of communities. From 1996 to 1999 he continued working with community based initiative ‘Friends of Vrindavan' on the second phase of the program and simultaneously formulated and worked on a similar project for Vankhandi Ashram, Sattal ,Uttarakhand. During this period he also conducted with Mr. MC Mehta, noted environment lawyer, a Public Hearing and Environment Awareness and Education Campaign for ICELA's National Rivers Conservation Campaign in the National Capital Region.

Job Titles:

• Programme Staff Member
• Research Scientist

Surendra Varma completed his Masters degree in Wildlife Biology from Bharathidasan University in Trichanapally, Tamil Nadu, in 1988. Since then he has been working on the conservation of elephants and other large mammals. From 1988 to 1995 he worked on large mammal population numbers and demography and habitat usage in the tropical mixed deciduous forests of Mudumalai, Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu. Mr Varma joined ANCF in 1998 as a researcher and was involved in studies on elephants in southern India and Myanmar, estimating elephant numbers, mapping habitat, reviewing the status of human-elephant conflict and elephant poaching. From 2000 - 2002 he worked on a study of large mammal population density and distribution in Bandipur National Park and a study of the status and conservation of the Asian elephant in Vietnam. From 2002 - 2006 he worked on Asian elephant population status and migratory corridors for elephants in North East India ,more specifically in Kameng Elephant Reserve, Pakke Tiger Reserve and Namdhapa National Park in Arunachal Pradesh. From 2002 to 2009 Mr. Varma worked on the study of the ecology, conservation and management of the Asian elephant in Bannerghetta National Park, Karnataka. From 2005 - 2011 he led a study of the management and welfare of captive elephants across twelve states in India. In 2006 carried out a study on the application of camera trap technology in wildlife studies. In 2010 - 2011 he was ANCF's Principal Investigator for a study on human - elephant conflict in the Mysore Forest Division. In 2011-12 Mr. Varma is involved in ANCF's study estimating the population of Asian Elephants in Uttarakhand. He has been actively involved in carrying out capacity building in conducting elephant census operations, habitat mapping and survey techniques for conservation researchers and policy makers from India and Southeast Asian countries. His work in Myanmar led to the identification of the first elephant reserve for the country. Mr Varma has been a key researcher at ANCF from the organization's inception.

Job Titles:

• Consultant Communications

Mr.Nanjappa is a naturalist with vast experience in the wildlife tourism industry. He also contributes articles and photographs on wildlife and nature to various reputed magazines in India.After completing his schooling from Mayo College, Ajmer in Rajasthan, he acquired a Bachelor's degree in History and Political Science from St. Stephen's College, New Delhi in 1987 .He then joined the tea plantations in West Bengal. In 2002 he joined the wildlife tourism industry.He worked with a reputed organization in Kabini, Nagarhole, setting up their Wildlife and Responsible Tourism operations .He was also a member of their online marketing team .His company won many international awards which include "India's Leading Wildlife Resort " by World Travel Awards 2009 and 2010 , " Asia's Responsible Tourism Award ' by World Travel Awards 2009 and 2010 and " World's Leading Online Tourism Marketing Campaign" by World Travel Awards 2010. He joined ANCF in 2011 with the responsibility for Communications and Fund Raising.