Championing the wild

“I grew up with wildlife in close quarters. When my father was posted in Assam, I used to visit Kaziranga National Park quite frequently. I guess that’s where my love for animals was born! Even in school, I was the ‘Doctor Dolittle’ who would try to pet or rescue animals around me.

My academic background was Economics. But while working as a research assistant after graduation, I came to know about the illegal wildlife trading and poaching of animals which piqued my interest. I realized this was a major environmental issue that needed attention. I wanted to study more about this and design policies surrounding it. It also gave me a window to change my learning curve and my field of study and look at wildlife conservation through economic-criminology lenses.

It was quite hard to find a multidisciplinary course like this in India and only one of the premier institutes had an option that partly aligned with my interest. My PhD interview was terrible — the panelists grilled me on the micro-concepts of Economics instead of asking me anything about my research interests and insulted me badly! I almost ran out in frustration banging the door and vowing that I would never return to that horrible place. Despite the dramatic scene, I still got an offer from the institute which I eventually accepted.

My guide was a core economist and had no clue about my field of work but she kept pushing me that I would be able to figure things out on my own. I faced a lot of trouble while doing literature survey because it was limited, not well documented and nobody had the perspective of connecting wildlife with economics and sociology; it was all segregated. I often used to cry in my guide’s office saying I did not have data. She did have an empathetic ear but I wish she were more practically involved in helping me out.

To add to that, I had to do a ‘primary survey’ with the local communities which is a topic of sociology. I had absolutely no idea how to do it. It took me quite some time to figure that out on my own. During my annual progress seminar, my panelists told me that I wouldn’t be able to continue working on this very new field. Even the ethics committee came into play because hunting and illegal wildlife trade are sensitive topics in India. I faced issues there because I didn’t know that it was such an important matter in my…