I am a naturalist at heart, a marine conservation scientist by training and gourmet by aspiration. That said, I tend to see the world through two lenses – Nature and Food. What we eat, where it comes from, who produced it, at what cost, and most importantly, how to eat and feed the planet sustainably. Considering that the oceans cover over 70% of the Earth and given my background @meenscientist (meen = fish in Tamil, Malayalam, Bengali), this lens, is more often than not a “Fisheye” lens.
After completing my PhD from the University of Cambridge on a Gates Cambridge Scholarship I decided to venture beyond academia i.e. in NGO, government, industry, bilateral and multilateral cooperation settings. I have managed a range of projects across a number of countries and cultures. These include understanding the impacts of tropical fisheries on ecosystems and livelihoods, setting up participatory models for the management of Marine Protected Areas, setting up programmes for monitoring small-scale fisheries and Seafood Advisory Services. I particularly enjoy collaborating with people from other disciplines and have worked with urbanists, architects and city planners in developing sustainable solutions for coastal cities as well as designers, to convey important themes dealing with the marine environment. Building on my experience, I also take on training & facilitating work in the International Development Cooperation space.
I am a member of the IUCN SSC Marine Conservation Committee and co-chair of the Sea Snake Specialist Group.This site contains information about projects and my blog “Last Chance To Feast” and will showcase a selection of my published popular articles and talks on my passion for “gastronomic conservation”.