Amphibians and bats have fascinated me since my childhood with their nocturnal life. The curiosity for understanding their life and interactions with the surrounding environment inculcated in me a keen interest in learning community ecology and also how these communities vary across the changing geographical conditions. After completing my Masters in Wildlife Studies in 2015, I actively contributed to the on-ground conservation of bats and amphibians in the Kerala part of Western Ghats through conservation research and stakeholder involvement. Following my interest and passion for both the taxa, I focused mainly on species-specific activities including the long term conservation management of threatened species like Latidens salimalii, Walkerana phrynoderma, Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis in their distributional ranges. In this journey, I was fortunate to get support from the Mohamed Bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund & Idea Wild grant for the conservation of lesser-known endangered Malabar torrent toad and the Conservation Leadership Programme grant for the conservation of endangered Salim Ali’s fruit bat in 2021 . I strongly believe that conservation of a landscape or a species is connected with the involvement of communities living there and hope I can build a network there with research and conservation education which will equip both the groups.

Publications:

Ravishankar, C., Ravindran, R., John, A. A., Divakar, N., Chandy, G., Joshi, V., & S. M. Goyal. 2022. Detection of Newcastle disease virus and assessment of associated relative risk in backyard and commercial poultry in Kerala, India. Veterinary Medicine and Science, 8(3), 1146-1156. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/vms3.747

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.Wayanad in the Western Ghats of Kerala, India.” Journal of Threatened Taxa, 10(8), 12103-12107. Journal

Ramvilas, G., Dhyani, S., Kumar, B., Sinha, N., Raghavan, R., Selvaraj, G., Divakar, N., Anoop, V.K., Shalu, K., Sinha, A., Das, S., Kulkarni, A., & S. Molur. 2021. Insights on COVID-19 impacts, challenges and opportunities for India's biodiversity research: From complexity to building adaptations. Biological conservation, 255, 109003. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109003

Das, S., Syed, E. P., Divakar, N., Thomas, A., & Tapley, B. (2021). Predators of an evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered Frog Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis Biju and Bossuyt, 2003. Herpetology Notes, 14, 247-249.

Roshnath, R., & Divakar, N. (2019). Solving species quandary: why awareness programs are pivotal in snake conservation. Herpetological Journal, 29(4). DOI: 10.33256/hj29.4.214218

Das, S., Tapley, B., Gray, C. L., Das, J. P., & Divakar, N. (2018). Purple frog, Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis, in Kerala, India. An output from the EDGE of Existence fellowship, Zoological Society of London.

Kanagavel, A., Parvathy, S., Nirmal, N., Divakar, N., & Raghavan, R. (2017). Do frogs really eat cardamom? Understanding the myth of crop damage by amphibians in the Western Ghats, India. Ambio, 46(6), 695-705. DOI: 10.1007/s13280-017-0908-8

Kanagavel, A., Parvathy, S., & Divakar, N. (2017). Education workshops improve the ability of forest departments to identify amphibians in Western Ghats, India. Conservation Evidence, 14, 21.

Roshnath, R., Basheer, A., & Divakar, N. (2015). Rescued Spectacled Cobra Naja naja eggs hatched in captivity. Newsletter of the South Asian Reptile Network, 17, 30.

Roshnath, R., Divakar, N., Chandran, K., Valsarajn, D., & Jose, A. (2014). Heronry census, 2014 in Kannur district, Kerala. Malabar Trogon, 12, 9-13.