Our team

I am interested in understanding the diversity in predator and prey traits and how biological communities interact and are assembled. I have been interested in carnivore ecology and in using interdisciplinary approaches to understand and manage carnivore and human relationships in the Indian Himalaya. 

My personal website: https://sites.google.com/view/manvigsharma/about?authuser=0

Hailing from a town nestled in the Western Himalayas, my connection with nature has fueled a lifelong fascination for the intricate tapestry of ecosystems. Currently, as Ph.D. student at Ashoka, I'm investigating species range dynamics by examining the relative importance of positive and negative interactions in structuring a diverse carnivore community in the Indian Himalaya.

My journey into wildlife research began in a small city in Central India. This passion has led me to the dynamic ecosystems of the Western Ghats, where my current research as a PhD student delves into the intricate breeding ecology of frogs through a multifaceted approach. Before immersing myself in the world of frogs, my Master's project took me to the Eastern Himalayas, where I explored the acoustics of mixed-species bird flocks.  I've had the privilege of working on a broad spectrum of projects with WII, WWF, CWS, WRCS, and IISc, ranging from terrestrial and marine mammals to birds and arthropods, all of which have shaped my comprehensive approach to ecological research.

I am an ecologist with broad interests in carnivore, population and freshwater ecology, especially in coupled human-nature systems. I completed my Master’s from the National Centre for Biological Sciences, where for my dissertation, I studied the effects of different land use types on aquatic macroinvertebrate communities in the headwaters of River Aghanashini in the Western Ghats. Since 2023, I have been working on long-term snow leopard-prey population dynamics in the Western Himalaya with the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF). Currently as a PhD student at Ashoka University (externally funded by NCF), I am keen on investigating carnivore species interactions, especially predator-prey dynamics and interspecific competition in the face of anthropogenically driven global change in the high-altitude regions of Western Himalaya.

Awestruck by wildlife documentaries on Animal Planet and National Geographic as a child, I developed a deep fascination with animal behaviour that led me to specialize in Behavioural Ecology during my Master's program at Ashoka University. This passion now drives my research, in which I investigate the costs of grouping prey under predation risk.