Festival

Dia Mirza
Actor, Producer & UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador
Dia Mirza is an actor, producer, UN Secretary General’s Advocate for Sustainable Development Goals, UNEP Goodwill Ambassador, eco-investor, green entrepreneur, ambassador for the Wildlife Trust of India, artist ambassador for Save The Children, board member Sanctuary Nature Foundation and the global ambassador for IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare).

K. Ullas Karanth
Emeritus Director, Centre for Wildlife Studies
Dr. Ullas Karanth was originally trained as a mechanical engineer at the National Institute of Technology, Surathkal (1971), but changed careers pursue his deep passion for wildlife biology, obtaining a Master’s degree from the University of Florida, USA (1988) and a Doctorate from Mangalore University, India (1993). Dr. Karanth has conducted long-term research on the ecology of tigers, other predators and their prey in India and other parts of Asia. His areas of expertise include large carnivore ecology, modeling of animal populations as well as conservation biology and policy. He has published over 150 scientific papers in prestigious journals as well as numerous popular articles. He has authored/edited/co-edited several books in English: The Way of the Tiger (2001), Monitoring Tigers and their Prey (2002), A view from the Machan (2006), Tiger Tales (2007), Camera traps in Animal Ecology (2009), Science of Saving Tigers (2011), Science and Conservation of Animal Populations (2017) Methods for Monitoring Tiger and Prey Populations (2017), Growing up Karanth (2021) and most recently Among Tigers. He also has authored /coauthored the Kannada books Aranya Mattu Samaja (1982), Kaadupranigala Jadinalli (2001), Huliya Baduku and Hulirayana Akashavaani (2007). Dr. Karanth serves on the World Conservation Union's specialist groups on Cats, Bears, Elephants, Wild Cattle and Small Carnivores. He has served as a member of the Indian Government’s Forest Advisory Committee, National Tiger Conservation Authority and on the Governing Boards of the Wildlife Institute of India, WWF-India and the Liz Claiborne Foundation, New York. He has been active in the conservation arena for five decades.

Nyrika Holkar
Philanthropist & Executive Director of Godrej & Boyce
Nyrika Holkar is Executive Director of Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd (‘G&B’). She leads Brand and Strategic Insights for G&B and its subsidiaries. In this capacity, she drives a company-wide strategy for enhancing customer experience and insight-driven interventions by building ecosystems and partnerships to help improve collaborative innovation within the organisation and externally. She works closely with the Sustainability, Marketing and Product Development teams across G&B with a focus on building a future-forward brand. Nyrika is an ardent supporter of the environment. As Chairperson of the G&B CSR Committee, she is actively involved in G&B’s community development efforts, including education, skilling and the protection of wetlands in India. Trekking, wildlife and photography are some of her abiding interests beyond work.

Bittu Sahgal
Environmental Activist & Founder of Sanctuary Nature Foundation
Bittu Sahgal, the Editor of Sanctuary Asia and the Founder of the Sanctuary Nature Foundation and the one million-strong Kids for Tigers program, is one of India’s strongest and most eloquent voices for nature preservation, climate change mitigation and wildlife conservation. Born in 1947, he has made it his life’s mission to direct world leaders away from short-term development objectives that could compromise the ability of the nation to sustain its population of 1.3 billion people in the decades ahead. He believes that India’s ecological foundation is the bedrock on which the nation’s economic foundation sits. He also believes that climate change poses the greatest ever threat to the stability of the Indian nation.

Vani Murthy
Composter & Urban Farmer
Vani Murthy is an avid composter, urban farmer, sustainability practitioner and a passionate citizen leader. Vani is a founding member of groups like the Solid Waste Management Round Table (SWMRT) and We Care for Malleshwaram (WCM), and has successfully used her social media influence to drive the sustainability movement forward. She has been featured on leading platforms and is a TEDX and INK speaker. She has also been conferred with several prestigious awards, including the Vocational Excellence Award 2018 by Rotary Bangalore Northwest, among others.

Vance G. Martin
President, Wilderness Foundation Global Founder/Co-Chair, Wilderness Specialist Group (IUCN)
Vance G. Martin is President (Emereitus) of Wilderness Foundation Global, an international alliance registered in Cape Town, South Africa. For 40 years of his career he created and built the WILD Foundation, a US (Colorado)-based, globally-focused not-for-profit known for its many signature programmes, including the World Wilderness Congress, Nature Needs Half, Mali Elephant Project, and many others. WILD’s work continues under a capable and dedicated team with excellent leadership.Vance has worked and/or lived in over 80 countries, collaborating with a network he helped to create that focuses on protecting wild nature and while meeting the needs of and be in partnership with indigenous and local communities.

Rita Banerji
Green Hub, Dusty Foot Foundation
Rita Banerji is one of the leading environmental filmmakers in the country and her work has been grounded in using communication as a strong tool for conservation action. In 2017 she was awarded the National Geographic – CMS Prithvi Ratna Award for her contribution to the environment and the RBS Earth Heroes award in 2018. She has been part of three Panda Award-winning films, also known as the Green Oscar at Wildscreen, UK. Her core work is in engaging and empowering the youth, especially from indigenous and grassroots communities, in conservation through the use of the

Nithin Kamath
Co-founder & CEO of Zerodha, Founding Director of Rainmatter Foundation
Nithin bootstrapped and founded Zerodha in 2010 to overcome the hurdles he faced during his decade-long stint as a trader. Over the last decade, Zerodha has changed the landscape of the Indian broking industry. In 2019, he set up the Rainmatter Climate Foundation to provide funding for startups and grassroots organisations working on solutions to mitigate climate change. Outside of work, Nithin enjoys spending time with his family, playing the guitar, poker, basketball, and swimming.

Akanksha Sood Singh
Natural History Filmmaker
With over 17 years of work experience that covers the entire range and breadth of film production, Akanksha has developed and honed her skills, often in extremely high pressure-high demand settings which range from the jungles to tent pole feature films, crafting scripts to negotiating complex acquisition and co-productions, and now to producing and directing her own films. Akanksha’s films have seen first-broadcast on networks like the BBC, National Geographic, Discovery, Channel 4, NHK and many more. Akanksha has won three National Film Awards, a Wildscreen nomination, a UN Film Award, and recently, the World’s Emerging Documentarian Award.

Venky Muthiah
Philanthropist & Chairman for Parry Enterprises Limited
For more than two decades, Venky Muthiah (more formally, Murugappa Muthiah Venkatachalam) has held senior positions in the Murugappa Group of Companies, one of India’s reputed business houses. After his graduation from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, he went on to obtain a Masters’ Degree in Business Administration from George Washington University, USA. He is presently the Chairman of Parry Enterprises Limited and Parry Agro Industries Limited, and serves on the boards of Laser Words Limited and other companies. Venky has been a supporter of NCF’s research and conservation work in the Anamalai hills, partnering with the organisation on rainforest restoration and conservation education.

Gemma Ward
Competition Manager, Wildlife Photographer of the Year (WPY)
Gemma is the Competition Manager for Wildlife Photographer of the Year (WPY), owned by the Natural History Museum, London. Working on the global competition, exhibition and awards since 1999, she has seen hundreds of thousands of images pass through the judging room, giving her a special insight into the trends and developments within wildlife and conservation photography, and the ethics and purity of the natural image which are at the heart of WPY. Gemma is passionate about nurturing and inspiring the next generation of young photographers by producing international outreach programmes, masterclasses and partnerships. She has been an Affiliate of the International League of Conservation Photographers since 2006, serving on its Executive Committee in 2009, and is a regular fixture on the international wildlife photography festival circuit.

Dr. Anish Andheria
President, Wildlife Conservation Trust
Dr. Anish Andheria is the President of the Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT), a not-for-profit set up to preserve, protect and conserve forests and wildlife. Currently, WCT works in and around 160 national parks and wildlife sanctuaries spread across 23 states of India and catalyses path-breaking conservation action. Anish is a member of several Government Committees, including the NTCA; the State Boards of Wildlife of Maharashtra and Jammu & Kashmir; the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority, the Executive Committee of the Gujarat State Lion Conservation Society and Tiger Conservation Steering Committee of Madhya Pradesh. He was awarded the prestigious Carl Zeiss Conservation Award in 2008 and the UAA-Institute of Chemical Technology Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2017. He is a Fellow of LEAD and has helped set up ‘Kids for Tigers’, a nationwide conservation education programme in 2000. The programme has reached out to several million school children.

Uma Ramakrishnan
Professor & Senior India Alliance Fellow at NCBS
Uma Ramakrishnan is a professor and senior India Alliance fellow at the NCBS. She has worked on tigers from a genetic lens since 2005. She and her group have developed cutting-edge tools to understand tiger connectivity, inbreeding and isolation effects and relatedness/family structures. Uma is a fellow of the Indian National Science Academy and the Indian Academy of Sciences. She won the Parker Gentry Award in 2016, the Kalpana Chawla Karnataka State Award in 2021, Conservation Beacon Award by the Society for Conservation Biology in 2021 and the Molecular Ecology Prize in 2023.

Jeremy Hogarth
Writer & Director
Jeremy has filmed in over fifty countries on every continent except for Antarctica, and for over fifty years, natural history has been his life. He worked as a film editor in Sydney, for the BBC in London and then in Melbourne on many award-winning programmes for ABC TV. He has also lived and worked in the United States and New Zealand. Among his notable works is the internationally acclaimed nine-hour ‘Wild Asia’ series, one of the first major documentary series to be produced in high definition. He has written several films for ORF, Austria’s government broadcaster. At present, Jeremy is in post-production on a film titled ‘The Real Jungle Book’, for ORF.

Dhritiman Mukherjee
Wildlife Photographer
Dhritiman Mukherjee is one of the most respected nature, wildlife and conservation photographers from India. He is a recipient of Earth Heroes award from the Royal Bank of Scotland, for inspiring people towards conservation with his images. He was also awarded the Carl Zeiss Conservation award and Kirloskar Vasundhara Mitra award among many others. He loves to work on challenging, lesser-known, endangered species and has worked all across India and in 35 countries around the world. His work has been published in BBC Wildlife magazine, National Geographic Traveller, Lonely Planet, New York Times, Nature inFocus and more.

Gargi Rawat
Environment Reporter, NDTV 24X7
Gargi Rawat is a senior news anchor and environment reporter with NDTV 24X7. She has been the face of the morning news at NDTV for several years. She has done several documentaries and environmental programs for the channel. She was part of the first-ever news show on wildlife in India, called Born Wild and anchored the Hindi version of Safari India on the NDTV India Hindi channel. She has been editorially in charge of several environmental campaigns by NDTV like The Greenathon, Save Our Tigers, Protecting India’s Coastline and the Banega Swachh India Campaign to encourage cleanliness. She also did an award-winning documentary series on the Ganga, travelling the length of India’s National river and reporting on the state of the river and the challenges in keeping the river clean. She now anchors the 8 pm bulletin on NDTV 24×7.

Raghu Chundawat
Conservation Biologist
Dr Raghu Chundawat started his career as a conservation biologist more than thirty years ago, with his research on Snow Leopards in Ladakh. Later, he worked as the Regional Science and Conservation Director for the International Snow Leopard Trust. Raghu was also a member of the teaching faculty of the Wildlife Institute of India. He is very closely involved with tiger conservation and research in central India and recently published a book based on his ten-year study there, “The Rise and Fall of The Emerald Tigers”. A recipient of several conservation awards, his work with Panna’s tigers was also made into an award-winning wildlife documentary film by BBC/Animal Planet.

Vishalakshi Padmanabhan
Founder, Buffalo Back Collective
Vishalakshi Padmanabhan began Buffalo Back Collective as a means to establish a sustainable farming cooperative. A Chartered Accountant in her previous life, Vishala (as she is popularly known) works primarily with marginalised farmers, encouraging practices that benefit all the stakeholders — the farmers, the environment and the consumers.

Vishwanath Srikantaiah
Water Activist and Educator
Vishwanath Srikantaiah, aka Zenrainman, is a well-known water activist and an educator based out of Bengaluru. He has developed over 100,000 recharge wells across the city as part of his A Million Wells project. He also founded the Rainwater Club, a virtual site for information related to rainwater harvesting. The initiatives YouTube channel has several informative videos that boast of over 2 million views.

Jayashree Ratnam
Community and Ecosystems Ecologist
Jayashree Ratnam is at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research where she serves as Program Director of the Wildlife Biology and Conservation Program. She is a community and ecosystems ecologist who studies tropical forests, savannas and grasslands. Her current research investigates the history and functional ecology of Asian savannas, grasslands and forest-grassland mosaics and the potential responses of these ecosystems to ongoing global change. In the Indian subcontinent where a long history of anthropogenic activity has significantly transformed lands, she is increasingly interested in inter-disciplinary approaches to the conservation of grasslands and savannas that explicitly recognise these as ancient coupled human-natural ecosystems that need to be simultaneously managed for the conservation of biodiversity and ecological function and sustainable human use.

Sudhir Shivaram
Wildlife Photographer
Sudhir Shivaram is one of India’s most respected and renowned wildlife photographers and a key influencer in the photography space. His pictures are noteworthy for their technical sophistication and evocative character and have won him numerous national and international accolades. He was the Sanctuary Asia Photographer of the Year in 2012. This green evangelist campaigns for wildlife protection and gives freely of his time and images to raise awareness about nature and wildlife.

Ashwika Kapur
Natural History Filmmaker & Science Communicator
Ashwika Kapur is an award-winning nature filmmaker and a Director for National Geographic’s multi-season wildlife series—HOME.

Sara
Wildlife Filmmaker
Sara is a wildlife filmmaker and the founder of Evanescence Studios and The Indian Wildlife Channel. He has worked for major networks like the BBC, National Geographic, Animal Planet and Discovery and his latest series was for Netflix. Sara started his journey as a wildlife photographer and continues to share a passion for creating images.

Aarzoo Khurana
Wildlife Photographer and Mentor
Aarzoo Khurana is a wildlife photographer and mentor. She strives to find beauty in the elements of nature. Her photos are a dance of light and shadows portraying some of the most engaging moments one might witness in the wild.

Gautam Pandey
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Born into a family of nature enthusiasts, Gautam’s passion for filmmaking started at an early age. He is now focused on using filmmaking as a means to boost awareness on wildlife, natural history and conservation. He has been experimenting with technology to push the boundaries and find new ways to tell stories. His films like Gyamo – Queen of the Mountains and Looking for Sultan are still on air on Animal Planet and Discovery. He is currently producing and directing an ongoing rescue series for National Geographic India, Snakes SOS – Goa’s Wildest.

Divya Dwaraknath
Wildlife Photographer
Born and raised in Bengaluru, Divya Dwaraknath has always been an outdoor spirit. She worked initially as a banker then moved to an NGO for special needs adults in New York. She relocated to Bangalore and worked as a teacher and a freelance writer. Her love for the wild began with a pair of binoculars. Sometimes she rode. Other times she drove. Her love for the wheels and the wild took her on never ending trips to the jungles in the Western Ghats. Wildlife photography is her passion and spreading the green love through her pictures and poems gives her true joy.

Raza Kazmi
Conservationist & Wildlife Historian
Raza Kazmi is a conservationist, wildlife historian, storyteller, and independent researcher. His fields of expertise include India’s wildlife and forest administration history, conservation policy, and conservation issues afflicting the insurgency-ridden east-central Indian landscape. His writings appear in national newspapers (The Hindu, Indian Express), online media houses (The Wire, Fiftytwodotin, RoundGlass Sustain) as well as various magazines and journals (Frontline, Seminar, TheIndiaForum, Journal of Bombay Natural History Society, Sanctuary Asia, etc.). A recipient of the New India Foundation Fellowship for 2021, he is currently writing a book tentatively titled To Whom Does the Forest Belong? – The Fate of Green in the Land of Red.

Jonathan Clay
Director & Executive Producer, See Through Stories
Jon Clay has over 25 years of experience in natural history and environmental filmmaking. He has made several award-winning films for international audiences across many broadcasters and platforms. Some of his notable works include Tribe for the BBC, South Pacific, Wonders of the Monsoon and Blue Planet II. At Silverback Films, he spent three years researching, designing and producing impact campaigns and films to accompany the WWF and Netflix hit series ‘Our Planet’, giving him unique insights into how impact strategies work. He went on to produce and direct the Netflix feature documentary ‘Breaking Boundaries’, which received high praise from climate campaigners, including John Kerry, Leonardo DiCaprio and Christiana Figueres. Jon founded See Through Stories to develop and craft films that shift deep cultural narratives towards a more equitable and regenerative future for all.

Aditya Singh
Wildlife Photographer
Aditya ‘Dicky’ Singh is a former member of the Indian Civil Service who decided that his interests lay in nature and wildlife. He has lived in Ranthambhore since early 1998, working on various wildlife documentaries, photography and conservation projects. Dicky took to serious photography around the year 2000 and now has one of the largest, if not the largest, collections of pictures from Ranthambhore. He is the recipient of the prestigious Carl Zeiss Award for Conservation (2012).

Yashpal Rathore
Wildlife Photographer
Yashpal Rathore is a Bangalore-based photographer and an electrical engineer. His work has been published widely in national and international publications and his photographs have won accolades in various competitions across the globe. Over the last few years, Yashpal has been using remote camera setups to document species which have not been well-represented, including smaller nocturnal mammals.

Srikanth Mannepuri
Wildlife Conservationist, Photographer & Filmmaker
A conservationist with a deep love for the visual medium, Srikanth is committed to work that explores our entanglements with the living world. His practice involves primarily using photography through which to bear witness to the unique stories of animals and their habitats. Srikanth volunteers for the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department and has been studying Fishing Cats and Smooth-coated Otters. Assisted with a grant from the Wildlife Society’s Conference and Fishing Cat Conservancy, he presented his work ‘A Visual Ethnographic Study of Fishing Cats in Andhra Pradesh’, in Cleveland. His works have been internationally recognised and have appeared in Forbes, BBC, CNN Travel, National Geographic channel, and other notable publications.

Shivang Mehta
Wildlife Photographer
An international award-winning wildlife photographer and the best-selling author of ‘A Decade with Tigers’ and ‘Chasing Horizons: Learnings from Africa’, Shivang Mehta has donned many hats in his long career, including that of a journalist and a PR professional. Shivang’s love for wildlife and nature led him to begin his on-field career in the sal forests of Kumaon almost two decades ago. As a part of his company, Nature Wanderers, he has conducted over 1000 wildlife photography tours and safaris in some of the toughest terrains on the planet and has mentored over a thousand amateur photographers.

Vipul Gupta
Founder, Earth Focus
Vipul Gupta divides his time between Kanha and Nagpur. An engineer by profession, he has spent a large part of his life managing businesses. He is in awe of the natural world and strongly believes that every one of us must play a role in preserving it for the next generation. Vipul dabbles in wildlife photography and lifestyle design of spaces and products, among other things.

Aly Rashid
Director, Jehan Numa Wilderness
Aly Rashid is the Director and CEO at Jehan Numa Wilderness. Wildlife and the wilderness have been a passion for Aly ever since childhood. This passion inspired him to work with his family to set up and run Reni Pani Jungle Lodge, one of the finest wilderness lodges in India. Among other wildlife and CSR initiatives that Aly has undertaken are the ongoing camera trap studies in the reserve forest area outside the park and his work with renowned small cat expert and scientist Shekhar Kolipaka for the Caracal Research and Conservation Project in 2014. A trained naturalist and ornithologist, he has travelled across the country and has been involved with wildlife in various localities.

Digpal Singh Rathore
Wildlife Guide and Naturalist
Digpal Singh Rathore is a wildlife guide and naturalist with over 16 years of experience. He started as a field assistant for wildlife documentaries with the BBC and has had the opportunity to travel the length and breadth of the country. Digpal has worked on innumerable documentaries and wildlife projects, including BBC’s Lost Land of the Tiger, Life of Mammals, and National Geographic’s Warriors of the Monkey God and Monkey Thieves. In the process, he has had the opportunity to work with mavericks like Sir David Attenborough and Nigel Marvin on a few occasions.

Adarsh NC
Head of Production, Felis Creations
Adarsh NC has been working as a local producer in the field of photography and documentary film business for the last 25 years. He has developed and coordinated documentaries, and worked with networks across the globe on over 200 programs, aired on BBC, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Netflix, and Apple TV, among others. Adarsh has also been instrumental in successfully leading large expeditions for the National Geographic Society in India.

Mihir Godbole
Founder, The Grasslands Trust
Mihir Godbole is the Founder of The Grasslands Trust, an organisation working towards the conservation of open savanna grasslands of the Deccan Plateau. He has been actively working in the field of grassland conservation through collaborations with various notable organisations such as the Wildlife Institute of India, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, and the Maharashtra Forest Department. Over the years, Mihir has developed an extensive knowledge of the grassland landscapes and its residents in Pune and the wildlife inhabiting these landscapes. He currently oversees most of the projects undertaken by The Grasslands Trust.

Varun Taneja
Brand Manager, Sublime Wilderness Odyssey
Varun Taneja is an experienced wildlife and adventure enthusiast whose expertise spans over a decade. Hailing from diverse regions worldwide, he brings a unique perspective to his role as a Brand Manager at Sublime Wilderness Odyssey, a bespoke safari travel company dedicated to offering unparalleled safari experiences while promoting responsible and ethical wildlife tourism. Having worked in some of the most stunning wildlife destinations across India, South Africa, Botswana and Sri Lanka, Varun possesses a wealth of knowledge about animal behaviour, diverse landscapes and the natural world. Singularly focused on creating unforgettable guest experiences, his enthusiasm for wildlife, conservation and exploration is highly contagious.

Rohit Varma
Founder, Nature inFocus
Rohit Varma’s love for nature and wildlife shouldn’t surprise anyone given that he was born and raised in Balaghat, a small town bordering Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh. After successfully managing multiple roles over 15 years in companies like AMD, SanDisk and CyberMedia, Rohit hung up his corporate boots to pursue his passion for photography and wildlife – which led to the creation of Nature inFocus. Rohit’s work has been published in national and international media, and he shares his work under creative commons. He believes that wildlife photography can, not only drive people closer to nature, but it can also make them experience, appreciate and conserve it. His TEDx talk on “Half a Flush to Save the Tiger” was truly thought-provoking and highlighted environmental issues in a unique fashion.

Kalyan Varma
Founder, Nature inFocus
Kalyan Varma is a wildlife photographer, filmmaker, naturalist and explorer specializing in environmental issues in India. He freelances with many of the world’s leading magazines, environmental NGOs and television networks like the National Geographic and BBC. He is one of the founders of Nature inFocus.

Nikhil Sreekandan
Associate Editor, Nature inFocus
Nikhil Sreekandan is the Associate Editor at Nature inFocus. An engineer who found refuge in the world of words, he is a journalism post-graduate from Cardiff University. Nikhil is also the co-founder of INKLINE, an international media platform focused on solutions journalism.