Tiasa Adhya (born ) is an Indian conservationist and

wildlife biologist A wildlife biologist studies animals and their behavior along with the role each animal plays in its natural habitat. The duties of a wildlife biologist can include: developing and conducting experiments/studies on animals in their natural habitat ...

. She is known for her work protecting fishing cats and has received the

Nari Shakti Puraskar The Nari Shakti Puraskar () is an annual award given by the Ministry of Women and Child Development of the Government of India to individual women or to institutions that work towards the cause of women empowerment. It is presented by the presi ...

. Her research also contributed to fishing cats being listed as a

vulnerable species A vulnerable species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being threatened species, threatened with extinction unless the circumstances that are threatened species, ...

on the 2016

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...

Early life and education

Adhya was drawn to animals at a young age. Her interest in wildlife conservation helped her to pass school and get her bachelor's degree. She studied

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

at the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

. She was introduced to work with fishing cats by Shomita Mukherjee, who at the time was the only specialist on small cats in India. Other people she worked with in her early career included Jim Sanderson (conservationist) and

Ajith Kumar Ajith Kumar Subramaniam (born 1 May 1971) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. To date, he has starred in over 63 films, and won four Vijay Awards, three Cinema Express Awards, three Filmfare Awards South and three Ta ...

. In 2022, she graduated from The University of Trans-Disciplinary Health Sciences and Technology with a master's degree in ecology and conservation.

Career and research

Her research focuses on fishing cat populations, particularly in

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

. As part of this work, she co-founded the Fishing Cat Project with Partha Dey in 2010. She works to help the public understand the importance of fishing cat conservation, breaking down scientific jargon into other forms including eco-poetry and film. Her work focuses on building a community that prioritizes conservation together. She currently works at the Human & Environment Alliance League as the conservation and ecology program director.

Selected publications

Adhya, T., & Banerjee, S. (2022). Impact of wetland development and degradation on the livelihoods of wetland-dependent communities: a case study from the lower gangetic floodplains. ''Wetlands'', ''42''(7), 65. Adhya, T., Banerjee, S., Dey, P., Nanda, S., Santra, S., & Nesha, I. (2024). Density estimation of the globally threatened fishing cat Prionailurus viverrinus through a participatory science approach in the Chilika lagoon, eastern India. ''Endangered Species Research'', ''54'', 1-13. Adhya, T., & Dey, P. (2020). First record of Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) from Chilika lagoon: a Ramsar site situated on the East coast of India. ''OTTER, Journal of the International Otter Survival Fund'', ''6'', 49-55.

Awards and recognition

* 2018 Wildlife Conservation Network Scholarship * Future for Nature Award, 2022 * Nari Shakti Puraskar * Wildlife Service Award from the Sanctuary Nature Foundation

References

1980s births Living people Year of birth uncertain Indian women biologists Indian conservationists University of Calcutta alumni Nari Shakti Puraskar winners

External Links

Tiasa Adhya on LinkedIn
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