KAMAL BAWA

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A Distinguished Professor of Biology at the University of Massachusetts Boston, and Founder-President of the Bangalore-based Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE). His quest to understand biodiversity and peoples' interactions with nature has taken him from the Himalaya to the lowland tropical forests of Central America and back again. His work has produced more than 190 scienti_c papers and 10 authored or edited books and monographs. He has been the recipient of many international awards: Bullard, Cabot, and Giorgio Ru_olo Fellowships at Harvard University Guggenheim Fellowship, Pew Scholar in Conservation and the Environment, Honorary Fellow of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation, the Distinguished Service Award from the Society for Conservation Biology, and the Gunnerus Award in Sustainability Science from the Royal Norwegian Society of Letters and Sciences. He is also an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Himalaya: Mountains of Life is Kamal's second book with Sandesh, a sequel to Sahyadris: India's Western Ghats. These books, blending imagery with description, represent Kamal's desire to share his passion for natural places and living things, so that one can embark on a new path to explore the unknown, while protecting and cherishing what is known. www.kbawa.com

SANDESH KADUR

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An award-winning wildlife photographer and cinematographer with a passion for natural history. His photographs have been published widely in books and magazines, while his documentaries on subjects ranging from cobras to elephants have been aired worldwide on the BBC, Discovery, and National Geographic networks. Over the years, Sandesh's work has garnered many top awards including the CIWEM Environmental Photographer Award, Nature's Best Award, BBC Camera-trap Award, International Conservation Photographer Award, and has twice been nominated for a Green Oscar at Wildscreen. He is an associate Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP) and the International Environmental Photographers Association (IEPA), and serves as board member for the International Association of Wildlife Filmmakers.

A few years ago he founded Felis Creations - www.felis.in a media and visual arts company that focuses on creating content that inspires conservation. Images, Sandesh feels, have the power to move people in a way nothing else can. He hopes to harness this power through his work, and inspire his audience to protect and appreciate what remains of the wilderness. www.sandeshkadur.com

GEORGE SCHALLER

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George Beals Schaller (born 1933) is an American mammalogist, biologist, conservationist and author. Schaller is recognized by many as the world's preeminent field biologist, studying wildlife throughout Africa, Asia and South America.Born in Berlin, Schaller grew up in Germany, but moved to Missouri as a teen. He is vice president of Panthera Corporation and serves as chairman of their Cat Advisory Council along with renowned conservationist and Panthera CEO Alan Rabinowitz. Schaller is also a senior conservationist at the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Schaller

ROHINI NILKANI

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Rohini Nilekani is Founder-Chairperson of Arghyam, a foundation she set up with a private endowment, to work on water and sanitation issues in India. She is also Founder-Chairperson of Pratham Books, a charitable trust which seeks to put A book in every child's hand. An ex-journalist, author and philanthropist, Rohini has been deeply involved with development issues for more than a decade. She is currently a member of the Audit Advisory Board of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. She sits on the Boards of many non-profits, notably ATREE (the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment) and Sanghamithra Rural Financial Services. Rohini has authored two books published by Penguin India- a novel - Stillborn - and also a non–fiction account of dialogues she moderated between social and corporate leaders called Uncommon Ground.

arghyam.org

PETER RAVEN

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Peter Hamilton Raven (born June 13, 1936) is a botanist and environmentalist, notable as the longtime director, now President Emeritus, of the Missouri Botanical Garden

After teaching at Stanford University, Raven went on to become Director of the Missouri Botanical Garden in 1971, a position he continues to hold. In 2006, his position was renamed President and Director.Raven now teaches at Washington University in St. Louis as the Engelmann Professor of Botany.

Raven is possibly best known for his important work Coevolution of Insects and Plants published in the journal Evolution in 1964 which he coauthored with Paul R. Ehrlich. Since then he has authored numerous scientific and popular papers, many on the evening primrose family, Onagraceae. Raven is also an author of the widely used textbook Biology of Plants, now in its seventh edition, coauthored with Ray F. Evert and Susan E. Eichhorn.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_H._Raven