I have always had a passion for wildlife biology and conservation and that passion has been cultivated and grown tremendously since beginning my college experience. I completed my master’s degree in Wildlife Studies from KVASU- Centre for Wildlife Studies. For my master’s thesis, I studied abundance, roost characteristics, acoustics and diet composition of selected bat species in the South Wayanad Forest Division. Following my master’s, I worked with Nityata River Otter Conservancy as a Research Coordinator, studying the influence of forest structure on habitat use by Asian small-clawed otters in the upper catchment region of Kabini River in Wayanad part of Western Ghats. After this, I joined Peechi Wildlife Division as Conservation Biologist and have conducted and coordinated species and habitat monitoring programmes for the sanctuaries and it helped me to improve my GIS skills. Furthermore, I worked with a team on the study of ichthyofaunal diversity in the upper catchment of Kabini River in the Wayanad part of Western Ghats, India. Currently, I am working as a Project Fellow on a project for developing long-term monitoring tools and strategies for mitigating human-wildlife conflicts in Kerala.

Prior to this, I joined as a team member on a project titled "Conservation of the Endangered Salim Ali’s fruit bat in the Western Ghats, India" supported by the Conservation Leadership Programme.

Publications:

Praveen, J… B. Balaji, M. Bibin Paul, J. Chaithra Shree… Yadukrishna J. Uchummal and M. A. Yathumon (2022). Kerala Bird Atlas 2015–20: features, outcomes and implications of a citizen-science project. Current Science, 122(3): 298-309. doi:10.18520/cs/v122/i3/298-309 pdf

Divakar, N., M. B. Paul, A.S. Madhu & K. Chandran (2021). Conservation challenges: saving the Salim Ali’s Fruit Bat one step at a time. Small Mammal Mail #435, In: Zoo’s Print 36(5): 01–04. article

Thampy, D.R., M.R. Sethu, M.B. Paul & C.P. Shaji. 2021. Ichthyofaunal diversity in the upper-catchment of Kabini River in Wayanad part of Western Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 13(2): 17651–17669. Journal