Prakriti Research Fellowship is a small grants program initiated to support nature conservation research and action with a focus to create a direct tangible long-term impact on nature conservation in India. The fellowship aims to provide seed money for strong on-groundwork done by individuals, teams, and small NGOs in this field from various Industry partners. Prakriti Research Fellowship has been started by CARPE in collaboration with Grind Master Machines Pvt. Ltd. to support nature conservation research and action in India.
The broad themes under which the Fellowship is provided are:
Sameer Kelkar
CEO, Grind Master Machines Pvt. Ltd.
Our World is witnessing/causing the 6th Extinction - an irreparable loss to biodiversity and ecologically diverse habitat. Research into these areas are must for directing Conservation Action. The PRF is aimed at funding individual researchers and has been successful in initiating excellent projects on diverse subjects such as Herbs, Odonates, Pangolins and also demonstrated Conservation action. We are excited with all the ON GROUND ZERO work happening with support of the PRF and Forest Department. We believe it is important to conduct a lot more research and awareness of our rich biodiversity and PRF is acting as a catalyst in attracting and retaining talented researchers in this field.
Rushika Shirsat
BSc Zoology student, SBES Science College, Aurangabad
I had never imagined that there is such an amazing world of dragonflies out there. Through this workshop, I got to learn so much about dragonflies, which I always considered as a mere insect and ignored. Here onwards, I will look around, take photos of dragonflies, and contribute my data to the Marathwada Citizen Science Project to do my bit of research and conservation.
Forest Guards
Bansbari Range, Manas National Park, Barpeta Road, Assam
Forest officials, especially the patrolling staff, were trained to monitor the activity pattern of hispid hare in the grasslands of Manas. Since 80% of people are unaware of the presence and importance of the species in their forest beat, our ongoing capacity building has initiated excellent results on the field. This initiative will also help in large scale monitoring of the Hispid Hare survey, which we plan to organize this winter.
Saurabh Bhogale
Director, AITG Group
We cannot conserve what we are not aware of. Some of the past fellowships have researched biodiversity including pangolins, odonates and tigers in the Marathwada area. This inspired us to support further research.
Kedar Shah
California, USA
As a passionate outdoor/wilderness enthusiast I am pleased to contribute in a meaningful way to research and conserve biodiversity. Young ecologists need to be encouraged and enabled to venture in this field.
Priya Ranganathan
PRF Fellow 2022
Without PRF 2022, I would never had the support I needed to carry out rigorous research in challenging conditions and create published material for outreach. The fellowship gave me the ability to travel extensively in my field, work in more sites, and engage with volunteers and interns to help make a comprehensive project.