Divya is interested in the confluence of behaviour and wildlife conservation. She strongly believes in science-based conservation and is continuously seeking improved ways of organically moving from knowledge (science) to conservation action.
Divya obtained her Master’s in Wildlife Biology and Conservation from the multi-institutional post-graduate program of Manipal Academy for Higher Education, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Wildlife Conservation Society, Centre for Wildlife Studies and National Institute for Advanced Studies, in 2006. She went on to obtain her doctoral degree in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation from the University of Florida in 2013. She was a Senior Scientist at Wildlife Conservation Society India Program between 2014 and 2019. In 2017, she co-founded Conservation Initiatives, a science-based conservation not-for-profit Trust, based in Northeast India. She continues to work toward conservation science and action, focussing on the Asian elephant and western hoolock gibbons, and primarily in the states of Assam, Meghalaya and Nagaland in Northeast India.
Today, Divya loves listening to gibbons, can watch social interactions of elephant herds for hours, loves visiting new and exciting places, and is constantly motivated by people she meets who work, sometimes against the current, for conservation. Divya has a sense of deep gratitude for multiple brilliant scientists and conservationists who have contributed to her professional growth over the years.
