I AM AN independent journalist and science communicator, with a keen eye for climate, environment, conservation and restoration issues. I report on and create content for environmental preservation and to spotlight grassroots movements being carried out by local communities and conservationists. I am especially interested in ecosystem restoration efforts as a solution to climate change.

SKILLS: Writing | Copy-editing | Quiz-making | Layout & design | Video editing
SOFTWARE: Microsoft Office | Adobe Suite | Procreate| Lumafusion | Canva
LANGUAGES: English | Kannada | Hindi

WORK EXPERIENCE

Field assistant | Upstream Ecology Foundation | May - August 2026
Surveying the flora inside Bandipur Tiger Reserve, particularly at Lantana removal sites. Collecting vegetation and regeneration data.

Communications manager | Living Earth Foundation | June 2025 – July 2026
Turned the work of this legal aid organisation into compelling stories about life—both human and non-human—along the coast. Designed working manuals about the CRZ law and public hearings.

Intern; social media contributor | Bamboo Pit Viper Research Foundation / Bamboo Rustles nature camp | September – December 2025
Documenting life in the dry deciduous and scrub forests, and other other stories from this rewilding site near Bengaluru. As an intern: Managed the nursery, collected seeds, experimented with germination techniques and maintained the seedbank. Helped organise a tree ID workshop and designed a flora checklist for visitors.

Independent communicator | June 2025 – Present
· I write feature stories for newspapers on wildlife- and environment-related topics.
· I write a fortnightly news quiz for the Sunday paper of the Hindustan Times
· I tell plant stories, with touches of history, geography, and botany, to educate my social media audience about native plants.

Special correspondent | Hindustan Times | Mumbai | January 2019 – April 2025
Staff writer for HT WKND, the Hindustan Times’s Sunday paper, with a focus on climate, environment, conservation, science, archaeology and astronomy. This involved pitching ideas, research, interviews and creating page plans. I continue to craft a fun news quiz called every alternate Sunday.

Research assistant | Agumbe Rainforest Research Station | Agumbe, Karnataka | October – November 2019
Joined a field study to collect data on the behaviour of a female king cobra, using radio telemetry, in Agumbe. I wrote about the experience here.

Founding member & curator | Brainded India | October 2016 – September 2025
Curate the Instagram page for Brainded India, a platform for independent comics, with over 100k followers. Maintain a roster of artists for commissioned work. Co-created the Dedlines Today series. Created and coordinated events such as Project Vandal-Eyes, a logo spoof contest in 2016; and Ecomixer, a 12-hour online comic marathon on World Environment Day in 2018.

Sub-editor; chief sub-editor | Harmony-Celebrate Age | Mumbai | February 2015 – August 2017; August 2017 – January 2019
Vetted and edited copy; ideated, planned, wrote briefs, coordinated with contributors for each issue; planned and planned and executed the page plan; curated the art and culture section; created branding and social media content, including contest posters, memes, presentations and videos.

Sub-editor | Afternoon Despatch and Courier | Mumbai | April 2014 – February 2015
Wrote and edited hard news copy, feature stories and photo features on city-based topics.

Research assistant | Evaluating the socio-ecological impacts of small hydropower projects in India | Sakleshpur, Karnataka | March 2014
Joined a field study to survey the fish diversity and population in the Yettinahole river. It was part of a larger project that evaluated the impact of small hydropower projects.

PARTICIPATION

Conference | Anil Agarwal Dialogue 2026 | February 2026
By the Centre for Science and Environment

Workshop | On covering apes and orangutans in Asia | February 2026
By Earth Journalist Network

BOOK DESIGN

Vaadivaasal: The Arena | December 2024
A graphic adaptation of CS Chellappa’s 1949 Tamil novella about Jallikattu, by acclaimed author Perumal Murugan and graphic novelist Appupen.

Dream Machine: AI and the REAL World | January 2024
A graphic noel on the evolution and adoption of AI by Appupen and physics professor Laurent Daudet. Published in French, English and German.

EDUCATION

Workshop | Basic Statistics and R for Ecology | January 2026
THE GREEN CONCEPT, Pune

MA (Audiovisual Communication) | 2012 – 2014
COMMITS COLLEGE OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION, Bangalore
Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication, Bhopal

BSc (Chemistry, Zoology, Environmental Science) | 2008 – 2011
MOUNT CARMEL COLLEGE, Bangalore
Bangalore University