Prachi Mehta, 2023-05-25, 2023-06-24

Prachi Mehta is an ecologist who has been studying the ecology of the Forest Owlet since 2005. She is currently the Director (Research) of the Wildlife Research and Conservation Society (WRCS), Pune. She grew up in Mumbai and did her undergraduate degree from Ruia College, Mumbai in Life Sciences. She pursued her master’s in Life Sciences from Mumbai University following which she did her PhD in Wildlife Biology from the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, (WII) studying the impact of forestry practices on bird communities of Satpura Hills in Bori Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh, and Melghat Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra.

She and Jayant Kulkarni started an environmental consultancy called Enviro Search in 2001 and later created the non-governmental organization WRCS in 2005. Her work involves studying the ecology of the Forest Owlet at Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh, and Melghat, Nandurbar, and Tansa in Maharashtra. She has been involved in community-based mitigation of human-elephant interactions in Uttara Kannada and Maharashtra.

In addition to her research on the Forest Owlet, Mehta has been involved in the protection of the bird. She has collaborated with local communities through awareness programs and with the Forest Department by conducting capacity-building programs for their frontline staff.