Get in touch
- Kalinga Foundation, Mane, Churrchihakklu, Agumbe Hobli, Hosur Grama, Guddekere, Shivamogga -577411
- kalinga@kalingacre.com
- +91-9480877670
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THE TEAM
He has been featured in several wildlife documentaries like the
- King Cobra and I
- Secrets of the King Cobra
- One million snake bites
- Asia’s deadliest snakes
- Wildest India
- Wild India
- Mysteries of Wild India and
- Cobra King
by channels like the BBC, Discovery, NatGeo Wild, Animal Planet, Smithsonian and the National Geographic Channel and also served as a consultant to these channels.
Dr. P. Gowri Shankar
Founder Trustee
A wildlife biologist studying king cobras for close to two decades. He has a PhD in King Cobra Phylogeography.
His interest lay in Evolutionary Biology and is studying the phylogeography of king cobras across southeast Asia. He has authored and co-authored 11 scientific papers on king cobras. He also has more than 10 scientific papers on other herpetological topics and book reviews to his credit.
As a field biologist, he has been studying the natural history of king cobras for over a decade at Agumbe. As part of his study, he has rescued and relocated over 350 king cobras from distress situations and monitored over 50 king cobra nests. He was instrumental in initiating the pioneering radio telemetry study on king cobras and was able to discover the secret life of king cobras.
In 2015 he was awarded the Herpetologist of the Year by the Swedish Herpetological Society. He is a TEDx speaker as well as TEDFellow 2020.
He believes education is the cornerstone of conservation and has initiated specialized workshops and camps to educate people.
Sharmila Rajasegaran
Founder Trustee
Sharmila, an avid wildlife enthusiast, gave up her raging career in Microsoft to follow her passion in environment and conservation.
Our inspiration, an epitome of passion and sacrifice. She manages the administrative and financial aspects of KCRE. Keep us in check and a driving force behind KCRE.
He is a knowledge bank on anything Agumbe, passionate about cecilians and snakes he is an inseparable part of KCRE personally and professionally.
Prashanth is a seasoned naturalist, manager, and well connected with the local communities. Prashanth’s love for exploration and forests has taken him across the entire stretch of the Western Ghats. Having trekked most of this part of the world, he is a veritable knowledge bank about life in the Western Ghats. A very kind and warm person, makes everyone feel at home at the centre. Very resourceful, a great friend to who know him.
Prashant P
Base Manager
Priyanka Swamy is a committed and passionate researcher who enjoys the outdoors as much as working in the lab. At the lab, she has been using molecular tools such as DNA sequence data to investigate processes that generate and maintain biological diversity. She is curious to answer fundamental questions related to population divergence, adaptation and patterns of phylogenetic genetic relationships, biogeography and conservation. Apart from being a lab rat, she is always excited to work on the field and enjoys exploring new places. She is actively involved in the study to examine phylogeography and contemporary population genetic structure of the king cobra within India and reconstruct the biogeographic history of O. hannah in Southeast Asia. She also works on other taxa (frogs, lizards and snakes) to understand their systematics and phylogeny. She is adept at conducting educational sessions on reptiles along with Gowri Shankar -both nationally and internationally.
Dr. S. R. GANESH
Director of Research
Dr. S.R.GANESH earned a Doctorate specialising in Wildlife Biology from the Univ. of Madras, Tamil Nadu and then completed a Guest Post-Doc in Andhra Pradesh Forest Dept. and is now a recognsied Ph.D. supervisor for herpetological studies.
His chief interests lie in the field of systematic herpetology, wherein he documents lesser-explored biomes, refining species characterizations and mapping current distribution patterns of southern India’s herpetofauna. This is achieved from fieldwork done for collecting base-line data, examining already-existing voucher specimens in museums for taxonomic research and carrying out mapping studies and analyses in GIS-based approaches. Hailing from Madras, he had also explored much of the Deccan plateau, the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats apart from the Coromandel Coastal plains.
He has (co-)described and named 20 new species of reptiles and amphibians from various regions in southern India. A full-time academician, he has about 125 publications including peer-reviewed journal articles, books and book chapters to his credit. He co-mentors undergraduate and post-graduate zoology students in various colleges.
He serves as an editorial board member and reviewer on about 20 Indian and international scientific journals and has collaborated with biological research institutes both in India and abroad. He is a member of IUCN Amphibian and Reptile Specialist Group, Skink Specialists Group, Viper Specialist Group, Species Survival Commission, AmphibiaWeb and EMBL Reptile Database. He is an assessor for ZSL; Zoological Society London and CAMP workshop on Amphibians and Reptiles, India. He has also contributed to wildlife policy making and has served instrumental in the declaration of many new Protected Areas like Sanctuaries and Tiger Reserve. In his capacity as a biodiversity board expert advisory member for herpetofauna in four south Indian states: Tamilnadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka he closely networks with the Forest Dept. and updates herpetological data of many Protected Area
TRUSTEES
Madhusudhan Shukla
Trustee
Both people, environment, business and technology are dynamic.
Keeping pace with successive generations and ever-changing environment is a challenge. Seeking information from field researchers, naturalists, legal experts and research papers provides me with deep insights into our natural world. As a Biodiversity educator, I convert these valuable inputs into actionable educative content to create awareness,sensitivity and a positive attitude towards the environment among people
As a Biodiversity educator, I convert these valuable inputs into actionable educative content to create awareness, sensitivity and a positive attitude towards the environment among people
Showkath Jamal
Trustee
Founder of Bay of Life Foundation, Chennai. A protégé and a good friend of Gowri and Sharmila. Specialises in ocean and marine sciences, Co host of STORM Chennai and more.
Vinod Kumar
Trustee
Both people, environment, business and technology are dynamic.
Keeping pace with successive generations and ever-changing environment is a challenge. Seeking information from field researchers, naturalists, legal experts and research papers provides me with deep insights into our natural world.
Trustee
Advisors, Partners & Collaborators
