Course Director
P Gowri Shankar. PhD.
Herpetologist, TED Speaker, TEDFellow 2020
P. Gowri Shankar is a wildlife biologist, conservationist, educator, and public speaker, internationally recognised for his pioneering research on king cobras. With twenty five years of field experience, he brings a comprehensive perspective on snake ecology, conservation, and human–wildlife coexistence.
He holds a PhD from North Orissa University and was an exchange student at Uppsala University, Sweden. His work has been featured in major wildlife documentaries by BBC, National Geographic, Discovery, NatGeo Wild, Animal Planet, and Smithsonian channels. He was also part of the acclaimed Kannada docu-drama Gandhadagudi, starring the late Dr. Puneeth Rajkumar and Amoghavarsha.
He is a TED Fellow (2020) and TED and TEDx speaker, recipient of the Herpetologist of the Year (2015) award by the Swedish Herpetological Society, and Kirloskar Vasundhara Mitra Award 2025 for his contributions to wildlife conservation.
He is committed to educating people about snakes, helping them overcome fear, challenge myths, and treat these often-misunderstood animals with respect. He was part of India’s pioneering radio-telemetry studies on king cobras, uncovering insights into their secretive lives.
He is a passionate science communicator and an influential voice for wildlife conservation. With a social media following of over 1,94,000 on Facebook, and 1,56,000 followers on Instagram, he actively educates and inspires a global audience about the wonders of the natural world, bridging the gap between scientific research and public awareness.
Priyanka Swamy
PhD Scholar, University of Mysore.
Program Manager, Kalinga Foundation
Priyanka has diverse experience across ecological field and laboratory work. As part of the Phylogeography of king cobras project, she has travelled to king cobra habitats across the world and has experience with phylogenetic and population genetics tools to understand evolutionary and biogeography patterns and assist conservation prioritisation. She has also addressed questions related to diversity pattern, population structure and drivers of diversification of the Ranids of the Western Ghats and other herpetofauna.
An excellent environment educator, she has co-conducted a wide range of outreach programs for diverse audiences from school and college students, to forest officials, researchers, and enthusiasts.
She is now pursuing her PhD project on Malabar pit vipers.
ELIGIBILITY
Open to ALL above 18 years.
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