Supervisor: Saloni Bhatia

I am currently a doctoral candidate at ATREE, where my research focuses on pastoralist–wildlife relationships in the Western Himalayas. I am particularly interested in exploring the often-overlooked dimensions of these interactions, and in understanding how human and non-human lives shape each other in complex mountain ecosystems.

This work builds on my earlier engagement with human-wildlife interactions during my time at IIT Bombay where I pursued an M.Tech. in Technology and Development from the Centre for Technology Alternatives for Rural Areas (CTARA, 2021–2023), following an M.Sc. in Environmental Science from the Centre for Environmental Science and Engineering (CESE, 2016–2019). It was during this period that I first began conducting fieldwork, starting with research around human-wildlife interactions at Satkosia Tiger Reserve in Odisha. That encounter sparked a deep and lasting fascination for systems thinking, and shaped the direction of both my academic and personal journey.

I hail from Himachal Pradesh and continue to work in this landscape for my PhD research. Outside of research, I enjoy sports such as athletics, badminton, and chess, and engage in creative pursuits including painting, writing, cooking, and playing the flute.