Institutions

University of Oxford

Wildlife Institute of India

University of Chicago

University College London

University of East Anglia

University of Cambridge

Indian Institute of Science Education & Research, Pune

Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhi Nagar

Ashoka University

The New School, New York

University of Jos, Nigeria

Royal Veterinary College, London

Leadership

Dr. Nishant Kumar

Chief Scientist

Thinkpaws Sustainability Research Foundation

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Chief Scientist, Thinkpaws Sustainability Research Foundation

DBT/Wellcome Trust UK - India Alliance Fellow

Ambedkar University, Delhi

Wildlife Institute of India

University of Oxford (Edward Grey Institute; Department of Biology)

As a researcher in the field of human-animal coexistence in the Global South, I am dedicated to exploring the complex interplay between urban ecology and cultural practices. Our research group focuses on the movement and behavioral patterns of opportunistic animals in urban environments, and how these patterns impact demographic outcomes and ecosystem services.

Navneet Kumar

Chief Executive

Thinkpaws Sustainability Research Foundation

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Chief Executive, Thinkpaws Sustainability Research Foundation

Indian Institute of Management

Shillong

I thrive on building and scaling organizations that can have a real impact. With my skills, I bring simplicity to solving smaller problems clouding bigger challenges, Figure it out, get it done, and keep it going. This 3-step philosophy helps me achieve goals individually and collectively while dealing complex priorities with a mission-critical approach. And in the story of our civilization’s growth, we might just be at the point where this is what we need apart from one more thing – more fuel for missions like Thinkpaws.

Together, we are leading the vision of Thinkpaws, a think-tank for building the Science of Cities, which seeks to enhance ecosystem integrity in rapidly urbanizing regions. Our work is guided by the principle of One Health, and focuses on understanding how behavioral ecology mediates the relationships between animal populations, disease transmission, and human health. Our research is also informed by the longstanding cultural traditions of feeding and protecting non-human animals in many developing countries, and we aim to provide scientific insights into this important aspect of human-animal coexistence through Thinkpaws Sustainability Research Foundation. Our goal is to uncover deep multi-disciplinary insights on dynamic urban systems, sustainability and one health aspects modulating the human-animal and social interface.

Leveraging established collaborations and support from private and govt. institutions of International repute for our research work, we are steadily building support for continued efforts in unraveling dynamics governing sustainability of urban systems which bears high thought-leadership, planning and policymaking impact potential not just for India’s future development but for the urban spaces across the planet.

Co- Investigators and Mentors

Ben C Sheldon

Director of Edward Grey Institute,
Department of Biology.

University of Oxford

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Greger Larson

Director, Palaeogenomics & Bio-Archaeology Research Network;
School of Archaeology

University of Oxford

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Yadvendradev V Jhala

Ex-Dean, Faculty of Wildlife Science

Wildlife Institute of India

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Qamar Qureshi

Head of Department, Population Management,
Capture & Rehabilitation

Wildlife Institute of India

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Mentors

Barbara Harriss-White

Senior Research Fellow, School of Interdisciplinary Area Studies; Professor Emeritus of Development Studies; Emeritus Fellow of Wolfson College,

University of Oxford

 

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Nicky S Clayton

Professor of Comparative Cognition,
Department of Psychology

University of Cambridge

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Aldina Franco

Associate Professor,
School of Environmental Sciences

University of East Anglia

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Damien Farine

Eccellenza Professor, University of Zurich;
Associate Professor, Australian National University;
Affiliated Scientist, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior

 

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Richard A. Kock

(Retd.) Professor of Wildlife Health and Emerging Disease, Veterinary Scientist

Royal Veterinary College, London

 

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Trevor D. Price

Professor,
Department of Ecology and Evolution

University of Chicago

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Fabrizio Sergio

Professor

Department of Conservation Biology, Estación Biológica de Doñana - CSIC

 

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Andrew G Gosler

Professor of Ethno-ornithology

Department of Biology, University of Oxford

 

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Timon McPhearson

Professor of Urban Ecology & Director of the Urban Systems Lab

The New School, New york

 

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Siddharth Arora

Departmental Lecturer


Management Science, Said Business School,
University of Oxford

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Collaborators

Ambika Aiyadurai

Associate Professor

Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar

 

Awdhendra Sharan

Director


Centre for the Study of Developing Societies

Radhika Khosla

Research Director

Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development,
University of Oxford

Lucas Malla

Postdoctoral Researcher

KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kenya

Sushrut Jadhav

Senior Lecturer

Cross-Cultural Psychiatry;
University College London

Maan Barua

University Lecturer

Dept. of Geography,
University of Cambridge

Gabrielle Davidson

Lecturer,

University of East Anglia, U.K.

Rachael Miller (Harrison)

Lecturer in Biology (Animal Behaviour)

Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge

Shalini Sharma

Associate Professor Department of Humanities and Social Sciences  IISER Pune

 

Krithika Srinivasan

Centre for South Asian Studies. Senior Lecturer, School of Geosciences. University of Edinburgh

Gaurav Jain

Economist

International Finance Corporation

Harish Tiwari

Veterinary Epidemiologist,
DBT/Wellcome Trust UK  Fellow;
College of Veterinary Science, (Assam)

Sanath Krishnamulia

Assistant Veterinary Officer

National Zoological Park, Delhi

 
Darragh Hare

Research Fellow

Wildlife Conservation Research Unit

 

 

Christepher Kennedy

Associate Director, Urban Systems Lab, New School, New York

Farah ishtiaq

Principal Scientist

Tata Institute of Genetics and Society

 

 

Vikas Gupta, IAS

Director General

Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises. Government of Haryana.

Grace A Pam

Lecturer

A. P. Leventis Ornithological Research Institute. University of Jos, Nigeria

Apoorva Kulkarni

D.Phil. Scholar

Interdisciplinary dimensions of human-wildlife systems, University of Oxford

Core Research Team

Nikita Gupta

PROJECT ASSOCIATE
Phylogenetics; Phylogeography; Disease Ecology
Black Kite Project, WII

Harsha Malhotra

Ph.D. SCHOLAR, Science and Conservation Education Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education

Urvi Gupta

Ph.D. SCHOLAR Spatial population dynamics of wildlife. University of Georgia

Vishnuvardhan

PROJECT BIOLOGIST Molecular Ecology, Conservation Genomics  WII

Jugnu Rai

RESEARCH SCHOLAR Hindhi Literature Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi

 

Nitish Rai

PROJECT COORDINATOR STCS India Pvt Ltd.

 

Mohammed Hisham

Intern 

Black Kite project

 

Gunjesh

Consultant 

Ernst & Young (EY)

 

Laxmi Narayan

Assistant, Black Kite Project

Zehan Arya

Assistant,  Black Kite Project

Prince Kumar

Assistant, Black Kite Project

Ranjan Kumar

Assistant, Black Kite Project

Amee Mehta

Project Coordinator,

Ingka Centres, India

Aparajita Singh

Fellow  Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, New Delhi

Prashant Kumar

Lawyer,

Patna High Court

Rajat Rastogi

INDEPENDENT RESEARCH SCHOLAR Invasion Ecologist  (ATREE, Black Kite Project)

Gulshan Kumar

Film maker,

Ex Nihilo

 

Harsh Vardhan Singh

Sustainability Leader

THINKPAWS Foundation

Research Assistants/Associates/Interns

Sagarika Phalke

Ph.D. SCHOLAR,  Human-Animal conflict and Asian Elephant Conservation University of Hong Kong

 

Adarsh Singh

DISTRICT MANAGER  Aga Khan Foundation  Lucknow, Uttarpradesh 

Isaac Mosigbodi James

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER, KEMRI