In order of appearance in the program schedule

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1. Ajay Phatak – Ajay is an IT professional. Ajay is an alumnus of IIT-Bombay and was the head of Harman Connected Systems, a Samsung group company. Ajay’s research is in sustainability and more specifically in energy and renewable energy. He has written several articles. He is also the trustee of TERRE Policy Centre. Ajay is on the board of Trustees of Ecological Society.

2. Dr. Gurudas Nulkar – Gurudas is a Professor and Director of Centre for Sustainable Development, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics. His research is in sustainability and ecological economics. He has a post-doc as the Endeavour Fellow 2018, of Government of Australia. Gurudas is a full Professor (Visiting) at IIT-Kanpur. He has published 5 books, several academic papers and writes regularly in vernacular magazines. Gurudas is on the board of Trustees of Ecological Society.

3. Prof. S. D. Mahajan – a well-known botantist and author, Prof. Mahajan was the Head of Botany at Kolhapur. He is popular for his writing style and his lecturing ability. Besides others, Prof. Mahajan has written three major books in Marathi, on native and non-native flora of India. He was a part of various research projects and workshops initiated by Prakash Gole.

4. Ketaki Ghate – Co-founder of Oikos for Ecological Services, Ketaki has a double B.Sc. in Chemistry and Botany. She has been involved in ecological restoration for the last 15 years and has worked closely in many of Ecological Society’s research projects. She has several publications and has co-authored books with Manasi. She was member of Pune Tree Authority of PMC and is currently the member of the JFMC. Ketaki is on the board of Trustees of Ecological Society.

5. Manasi Karandikar – Co-founder of Oikos for Ecological Services, Manasi is an Instrumentation engineer and has done her MSc in Environmental Sciences from Pune University. She has been involved in ecological restoration for the last 15 years and has worked closely in many of Ecological Society’s research projects. Manasi was a member of Matheran Conservation Committee. She has written several articles and has co-authored books with Ketaki. Manasi is on the board of Trustees of Ecological Society.

6. Dr. Swati Gole – retired as a professor of Geography in the S.P.College. She has participated in taken most of Ecological Society’s research programs and expeditions, since inception. Dr. Gole has several publications to her credit and has been instrumental in designing the course along with Shri Prakash Gole. Dr. Gole is the Chairperson of Ecological Society.

7. Dr. Sanjeev Nalavade – retired as the Head of Geography, Fergusson College. Dr.Nalavde is a well-known researcher in fauna and has published several papers and undertaken many important research programs.

8. Dr. Asim Auti – Senior Teaching Associate, Center of Excellence in Science and Mathematics Education (CoESME), IISER Pune. PhD (Microbiology), Post Graduation in Biodiversity & Graduation in Microbiology. He has been teaching Life Science courses at UG & PG level for the past 10+ years and has been a part of curriculum designing for SPPU affiliated colleges. He has academic interests in the field of Microbiology, Ecology & Evolution, and Conservation of Biodiversity. He has worked on various projects engaging labs as well as field components, some of which resulted in popular as well as scientific publications. He was a National Academies (USA) Education Fellow in the Life Sciences 2013-14 and takes keen interest in developing and implementing various pedagogical tools centered on Active Learning.

9. Dr. Mandar Datar – is a scientist and researcher at Agharkar Research Institute, Pune. Mandar has done extensive research in Goa and Western Ghats and published several papers. He has also authored several books and writes regularly in Marathi publications.  He is a core faculty at the popular Field Botany course at ARI.

10. Bharati Kelkar – Bharati Tai is a retired banker. She has travelled extensively in India and her special interest is in traditional water conservation systems of India. She has visited many sites to observe the traditional measures of conservation in India. 

11. Parineeta Dandekar – Parineeta is a researcher at SANDRP and has widely studied and written on rivers in India. She is on several committees and institutions and travels widely.

12. Prof. Vishwas Sawarkar is the retired Director of Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, one of the world’s leading research institutes on fauna. He is the advisor to the Ministry of Environment, office of the Prime Minister and on boards of several NGOs and institutions. He was a leading member of the Tiger Conservation project and has recognized contributions to the Bustard and other conservation programs in India. Prof. Sawarkar is on the board of Trustees of Ecological Society.

13. Nima Pathak – Nima is a core member of Kalpvriksh, a reputed NGO. Her work is in community conservation and management. She has led several internationally funded projects on it and has several publications to her credit.

14. Dr. Aparna Watve – Aparna is a visiting faculty at Tata Institute of Social Sciences. She has undertaken extensive studies on rocky plateau ecosystems and has international research collaborations. She has published in reputed journals.

15. Girish Abhyankar – is a retired businessman and now tries to lead a sustainable life. He has several inventions to his credit. His focus is on energy and entropy.

16. Dr. Rajashri Joshi – Rajashri, works with BAIF, an NGO, is a Social Scientist and a professionally trained social worker with thorough knowledge on development issues and required development interventions in different settings.Have relevant skills for planning interventions on livelihood development, Natural Resource Management, NGO management.

17. Dr. Himanshu Kulkarni – is a well-known authority on ground water management. He is on several high-level committees and an advisor to ministry of environment. Dr. Himanshu is the founder of ACWADAM, a reputed NGO working in the field of water conservation.

18. Dr Pramod Moghe – is a retired scientist from the National Chemical Laboratory, Pune and has done seminal work on toxins in daily use products. He has been experimenting with a toxin-free lifestyle for several years and has published his experiences. He has several formulations to his credit and some of them have been commercialized by companies.

19. Adv. Amogh paralikar – is a practicing advocate and his core capabilities include environmental litigation and social causes. Amogh has helped in several major environmental causes and helps NGOs and citizens in their fight against environmental injustice.

20. Ar. Malak Singh – Malak is a practicing architect and a professor at Rachna College of Architecture, Mumbai. He works in the field of sustainable architecture and has being doing innovative experimentation in it. He has experimented with several forms of sustainable architecture and has mentored many students to take up such practices.

21. Dr. Priyadarshani Karve–Founder of Samuchit, Dr. Priya has several noteworthy inventions for rural and urban communities, in the field of biofuels. She conducts workshop on sustainable living and has been a part of several committees on sustainability.

22. Ashish Kothari – founder member of Kalpvriksh, Ashish is a well-known environmentalist in India. He has written several books and been a part of many UN funded projects and programs. He is well known for his work in Biodiversity laws.