My abode is the foothills of the Himalayas, Kashmir. I grew up in the lap of modest nature- a landscape replete and gross with rivers and streams, valley and alpine lakes, glaciers, wetlands, tall mountains, and vast valleys. In my childhood, I would accompany my elders to the alpine areas and a gamut of aesthetically appealing landscapes. With time, as I leaped from my childhood into adulthood, my appreciation of nature made me more inquisitive about it and I, with a bunch of my friends, started to explore Kashmir through trekking. My baptism into wildlife science research unfolded gradually. Unlike many, I didn’t carry this passion from childhood. Instead, my path was shaped by the academic opportunities that came my way, selectively picking those that resonated with my interest and aspirations; leading me from Biosciences in B.Sc to Earth and Environmental Sciences in M.Sc, and eventually into Wildlife Research and Conservation in my Ph.D program. I have also been affiliated with the Conservation Science and Innovation laboratory at AIC-CCMB. Each step along the way brought me closer to where I am today. In my PhD, I studied population ecology and population genetics of a high-altitude Himalayan primate at the landscape level. During my PhD, I also collaborated on and contributed to studies on vulture conservation, human-wildlife conflict, and the feeding patterns of carnivorous species in the greater Himalayas and trans-Himalayas. Under the High-Altitude Program of NCF, I will be working across the snow leopard habitat in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir, focusing on snow leopard research and conservation.