If asked to time-travel and pinpoint when my love for exploring different landscapes and their biodiversity began, I wouldn’t be able to. Being raised in the greenest parts of more than 20 states across the country was perhaps what instilled a deep appreciation of wild spaces in me. I was thirteen when I was first introduced to documenting wildlife through bird counts during my wanderings in Uttarakhand. This rude revelation of my ignorance dug a reservoir in me that I sought to fill with knowledge of the natural world. My interests are very wide-ranging, but of all the fascinating worlds I have experienced, nothing captivates my brain and heart as marine ecosystems do. My master’s dissertation for the Wildlife Biology and Conservation course at NCBS (Bangalore) was accordingly on understanding the factors affecting the abundance and distribution of a bio-eroding sea urchin (E. molaris) in the Lakshadweep archipelago. Here, with NCF, I’m working towards developing the same project and furthering the understanding of coral reef erosion in Lakshadweep. I’m also involved in projects that aim to deepen the understanding of the ecology of seagrass meadows, and conserve the elusive Dugong in the Andamans.