I AM AN independent journalist and science communicator, with a keen eye for climate, environment, conservation and restoration issues. I report on and create content for environmental preservation and to spotlight grassroots movements being carried out by local communities and conservationists. I am especially interested in ecosystem restoration efforts as a solution to climate change.

SKILLS: Writing | Copy-editing | Quiz-making | Layout & design | Video editing
SOFTWARE: Microsoft Office | Adobe Suite | Procreate| Lumafusion | Canva
LANGUAGES: English | Kannada | Hindi

WORK EXPERIENCE

Independent communicator | June 2025 – Present
· I create social media content and user manuals for Living Earth Foundation, a legal aid, research and advocacy firm that works with coastal communities in Goa and Karnataka.
· I write feature stories for newspapers on wildlife- and environment-related topics.
· I tell plant stories, with touches of history, geography, and botany, to educate my social media audience about native plants.
· I write a fortnightly news quiz for the Sunday paper of the Hindustan Times
· I designed a mental health manual for primary health care providers, for St John’s Medical College.

Special correspondent | Hindustan Times | Mumbai | January 2019 – April 2025
Staff writer for HT WKND, the Hindustan Times’s Sunday paper, with a focus on climate, environment, conservation, science, archaeology and astronomy. This involved pitching ideas, research, interviews and creating page plans. I continue to craft a fun news quiz called every alternate Sunday.

Founding member & curator | Brainded India | October 2016 – September 2025
Curate the Instagram page for Brainded India, a platform for independent comics, with over 100k followers. Maintain a roster of artists for commissioned work. Co-created the Dedlines Today series. Created and coordinated events such as Project Vandal-Eyes, a logo spoof contest in 2016; and Ecomixer, a 12-hour online comic marathon on World Environment Day in 2018.

Sub-editor; chief sub-editor | Harmony-Celebrate Age | Mumbai | February 2015 – August 2017; August 2017 – January 2019
Vetted and edited copy; ideated, planned, wrote briefs, coordinated with contributors for each issue; planned and planned and executed the page plan; curated the art and culture section; created branding and social media content, including contest posters, memes, presentations and videos.

Sub-editor | Afternoon Despatch and Courier | Mumbai | April 2014 – February 2015
Wrote and edited hard news copy, feature stories and photo features on city-based topics.

CONFERENCE

Participant | Anil Agarwal Dialogue 2026 | February 2026
Documented the flora growing in the dry deciduous and thorn scrub forests around this rewilding site, as well as their rewilding efforts. Helped organise a tree ID workshop and designed a flora checklist for visitors.

Intern | Bamboo Pit Viper Research Foundation | September – December 2025
Documented the flora growing in the dry deciduous and thorn scrub forests around this rewilding site, as well as their rewilding efforts. Helped organise a tree ID workshop and designed a flora checklist for visitors.

Research assistant | Agumbe Rainforest Research Station | Agumbe, Karnataka | October – November 2019
Joined a field study to collect data on the behaviour of a female king cobra, using radio telemetry, in Agumbe. I wrote about the experience here.

Research assistant | Evaluating the socio-ecological impacts of small hydropower projects in India | Sakleshpur, Karnataka | March 2014
Joined a field study to survey the fish diversity and population in the Yettinahole river. It was part of a larger project that evaluated the impact of small hydropower projects.

BOOK DESIGN

Vaadivaasal: The Arena | December 2024
A graphic adaptation of CS Chellappa’s 1949 Tamil novella about Jallikattu, by acclaimed author Perumal Murugan and graphic novelist Appupen.

Dream Machine: AI and the REAL World | January 2024
A graphic noel on the evolution and adoption of AI by Appupen and physics professor Laurent Daudet. Published in French, English and German.

EDUCATION

Workshop | Basic Statistics and R for Ecology | January 2026
THE GREEN CONCEPT, Pune

MA (Audiovisual Communication) | 2012 – 2014
COMMITS COLLEGE OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION, Bangalore
Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication, Bhopal

BSc (Chemistry, Zoology, Environmental Science) | 2008 – 2011
MOUNT CARMEL COLLEGE, Bangalore
Bangalore University