Speaker

Dr. Mahesh Rangarajan

Researcher, Author and Historian

Mahesh Rangarajan is professor of Environmental Studies and History at Ashoka University. He was educated at Hindu College, University of Delhi and then at Balliol and Nuffield Colleges, both in Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.

Dr Rangarajan has worked as Assistant Editor with The Telegraph and been a commentator on current affairs on audio-visual media in both English and Hindi.

He has previously taught at the University of Delhi and at Krea University. He has also been Visiting Faculty at Cornell University, Jadavpur University and in the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru.

He was Director, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library ( 2011-15) and has also served as Vice Chancellor, Krea University ( 2021-22). He was Chair of the Elephant Task Force of the Government of India in 2010 and member of the Forest Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Environment, Government of India ( 2008-2012).

He is the author of several acclaimed books in his field including a two-volume India’s Environmental History, Nature and Nation, India’s Wildlife History – and other seminal works.

Sessions

Day 1 - 6th October, Friday @ The Niligir Library

11:55 AM - 01:00 PM

Is Indian Conservation at a Crossroad?

As the earth feels the ever-increasing stress of human presence, forests and animal species seem under threat as never before. Extinction rates of flora and fauna are reaching irreplaceable levels. India and the Nilgiris are no exception to this trend. Eminent panelists Dr. Mahesh Rangarajan, Dr. Shankar Raman, and Suprabha Seshan will be in conversation with Rohini Nilekani on the challenges and pathways forward for the conservation movement in India and the Nilgiris.