I am a professor of Agronomy at the College of Forestry Ponnampet, Kodagu District. I’ve been involved in teaching and research focused on native orchid plant genetic resource conservation, conservation of native ferns, ethnobotany and medicinal plants, wild ornamental plants and cropping systems.

I’m a proud member of the Soliga tribe and have been involved in native orchid, fern and medicinal plant restoration in sacred forests, agroforests and natural forest ecosystems. I have also been working towards ecosystems niche modelling of Western Ghats orchids.

I’m also the honourary president of Vevekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra (VGKK) founded by Padmarshri Dr Sudarshan who has been instrumental in the upliftment of tribal communities in India. I have also been Involved in sustainable tribal development and have been involving tribes in forest conservation, along with promoting community based conservation of medicinal plants and biodiversity for sustainable livelihood security.