Dr Amrita Neelakantan is a conservation and development professional. She holds a doctorate from Columbia University (New York, the U.S.A). Her thesis study was a post-resettlement exploration around Kanha National Park. Her work in central India began in 2013. She is also the founding member and an active participant for multiple coalitions that are at the forefront of connectivity conservation and human-nature interactions. Previously she's worked in three of the world's biodiversity hotspots in Ecuador, Kenya and Madagascar. She has also led multi-country projects to reconcile development and conservation.

Ongoing Projects / Research

Wildlife connectivity research in central India; small millet farming for livelihood portfolios in the Kanha National Park landscape; Wildlife areas and headwaters of rivers in central India; post-resettlement patterns of forest use and food security of rural households around Kanha National Park

Teaching Activities

Taught a sustainability studies elective course at NIFT Delhi. She was also resource person for and co-taught a course on anthropological critiques of wildlife conservation at Columbia University as part of her PhD

Outreach Activities

Science communications and public engagement on wildlife connectivity; facilitating a place-based roundtable for small millet farming in the Kanha National Park landscape;

Selected Publications

https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=jFQK-ZIAAAAJ&sortby=pubdate&citation_for_view=jFQK-ZIAAAAJ:Tyk-4Ss8FVUC
JM Schoen, A Neelakantan, SA Cushman, T Dutta, B Habib, YV Jhala, ...
Conservation Biology 36 (4), e13909

https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=jFQK-ZIAAAAJ&sortby=pubdate&citation_for_view=jFQK-ZIAAAAJ:IjCSPb-OGe4C
A Neelakantan, K Rithe, G Tabor, R DeFries
Ecosystems and People 17 (1), 432-446

https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=jFQK-ZIAAAAJ&sortby=pubdate&citation_for_view=jFQK-ZIAAAAJ:qjMakFHDy7sC
A Neelakantan, R DeFries, J Fanzo
Plos one 15 (12), e0243825

https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=jFQK-ZIAAAAJ&sortby=pubdate&citation_for_view=jFQK-ZIAAAAJ:2osOgNQ5qMEC
A Neelakantan, R DeFries, E Sterling, S Naeem
Regional Environmental Change 20, 1-14

https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=jFQK-ZIAAAAJ&sortby=pubdate&citation_for_view=jFQK-ZIAAAAJ:9yKSN-GCB0IC
A Neelakantan, R DeFries, R Krishnamurthy
Biological Conservation 232, 142-151

Awards / Memberships

Steering Committee member at the Coalition for Wildlife Corridors; Working Group member at the Coexistence Consortium; Deputy Secretary at Indian Regional Association for Landscape Ecology

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