As a rescuer, researcher, public speaker, presenter, educator and conservationist, Gowri Shankar brings forth 360 degree perspective of snake rescue and conservation.
Gowri Shankar is a wildlife biologist working on king cobras for close to two decades. He has been featured in several wildlife documentaries on channels like the BBC, Discovery, NatGeo Wild, Animal Planet, Smithsonian and National Geographic Channel. He is a PhD student at North Orissa University and former exchange student at Uppsala University, Sweden. He was awarded the herpetologist of the year-2015 by the Swedish Herpetological Society.
He wishes to educate people about snakes, help them overcome their fears, and learn to treat them with respect. He hopes someday these magnificent animals will get a fair chance to life
Priyanka Swamy
PhD Student, University of Mysore
Priyanka has diverse experience across ecological field and laboratory work.
As part of the Phylogeography of king cobras project, she has travelled to king cobra habitats across the world and has experience with phylogenetic and population genetics tools to understand evolutionary and biogeography patterns and assist conservation prioritisation. She has also addressed questions related to diversity pattern, population structure and drivers of diversification of the Ranids of the Western Ghats and other herpetofauna. An excellent environment educator, she has co-conducted a wide range of outreach programs for diverse audiences from school and college students, to forest officials, researchers, and enthusiasts. She is now embarking on her PhD project on Malabar pit vipers which will mark a beginning to a topic long-awaited to be discovered.
What participants from the previous batches said...