RJ Ranjit Daniels, 2022-07-28

R J Ranjit Daniels was born in 1959 in Nagercoil in the southern Western Ghats. He developed a passion for raising pets, nature watching and animal drawing (particularly birds), encouraged by his parents.

He is an agriculture graduate from Tamil Nadu Agriculture University and he earned his PhD in Ecology from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), studying birds in the Western Ghats. He went on to pursue post-doctoral research, also from IISc, on amphibians in the Western Ghats.

In 1992, Daniels moved to Chennai and held various roles, including Research Scientist at the Madras Crocodile Bank and Honorary Secretary at the Chennai Snake Park. He also served as Principal Scientific Officer and Chair at the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation.

In 2000, he founded Care Earth Trust, dedicated to biodiversity research and training, and assumed the role of Director.

Daniels has served on the editorial and peer-review committee of the United Nations Environment Programme’s Global Biodiversity Assessment. Recognised for his bird conservation efforts, he became a Fellow of the International Ornithologists Union in 2002. He has also shared his expertise as visiting or guest faculty at institutions like the Wildlife Institute of India and National Centre for Biological Sciences.

Over the course of his career, Daniels has authored over 50 peer-reviewed papers and over 12 books focussing on ecology and conservation.