Team
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Nikit Surve
Nikit completed his Masters in Wildlife Science from Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. At WCS India, he works on the ecology of urban biodiversity in Mumbai, be it leopards, jackals or non-human primates, and their interactions with humans.
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Orvill Jude Nazareth
Orvill earned his M.Sc. in Wildlife Biology from AVC College in 2016. His ornithological interests led him to study the endangered lesser florican and White-rumped Vultures. His Master's Dissertation focused on the White-bellied Sea Eagle in collaboration with SACON. Post-graduation, he joined WCS-India and IUCN-India, contributing to mammal population studies and conservation projects. At the Wildlife Institute of India, he worked on tiger augmentation in Buxa Tiger Reserve. Most recently, at NCBS, he studied the Nilgiri marten using innovative techniques like arboreal camera trapping. Orvill's research now focuses on leopards and their habitat in Mumbai, leveraging his expertise in population ecology and GIS.
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Veerendra Naidu
Veerendra completed his Bachelor's in Zoology from Modern College, Pune University and his Master's in Ecology from Pondicherry University. He worked with WCS-India's Urban Biodiversity Programme for his dissertation wherein he studied human impacts on mesocarnivores and estimated leopard density in Tungareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary, near Mumbai. He has previously volunteered with ResQ Charitable Trust, Pune and interned with the Media & Outreach team at the Kalinga Center for Rainforest Ecology, Agumbe. He was selected for an international summer training titled 'Engaging Science for Resilient and Liveable Cities' in Estonia under the EU-URGENT project. His research revolves around human impacts on wildlife, and their persistence in human-dominated landscapes to help develop conservation measures for coexistence.