Throughout the year, we will introduce you to the Ph.D. candidates studying with the Tigers United University Consortium universities. While Devi isn’t an official Tigers United Ph.D. candidate, she is an Indian native who is studying tiger conservation at Clemson University and making great strides in the field.
Bio: Devyani has a bachelors in zoology and a master’s degree in environmental sciences from Mumbai University, India. Before joining Clemson, she worked with an non-governmental organization in Mumbai as a program officer. She has been involved in projects based on conservation, tourism, and community studies around tiger reserves. Dev was motivated to pursue her doctoral degree by the time she spent in the forests of India, interacting with rural communities. Devyani’s research interests are in the conservation social sciences with a focus on community-wildlife interactions, conservation conflict, tourism in protected areas, and conservation education.
- Tell us about your dissertation.
Protected areas in India not only support its biodiversity, but also the human populations who depend on them. The presence of charismatic wildlife, like the tiger, make protected areas popular tourism destinations. However, interactions between conservation efforts, tourism, and local communities are complex. Research supports the involvement of local communities in conservation and tourism for positive outcomes. My work involves studying the perceptions of and support for conservation and tourism across a variety of stakeholder groups in two tiger reserves in India in an aim to inform site-specific and site-transcending management and policy.
2. What does the tiger mean to you?
Seventy percent of the world’s tigers are found in 19 of India’s 29 states. They thrive in diverse habitats ranging from the wetlands of the Sundarban, semi-arid regions of Rajasthan; the hilly regions of Garhwal, the dense forests of the south, to the grasslands of central India. Despite their wide distribution, I saw my first tiger on my fifth visit to Bandhavgarh National Park, which has the highest tiger density in central India. This was after three years of unsuccessful visits and near-miss encounters! So, when I finally saw one, the emotion I remember feeling was beyond joy. I had found my purpose. Despite facing a wide range of pressures that threaten its existence, the tiger has been extremely responsive to conservation efforts. It is viewed as a champion for wildlife conservation, and rightly so. For me, it’s a symbol of resilience and survival.
3. Why do you work on tiger conservation?
In my student years, I was deeply motivated to study tiger ecology. However, after spending a few years in the field and understanding the factors that impacted tiger populations, it became clear to me that they require conservation support from people, especially from the local populations near them. My curiosity about local rural communities — how they negotiate conservation costs, wildlife conflict, and a myriad of social issues; and how that impacts their support for conservation — inspired my research.
4. What’s in store for you in the future?
The challenges of coexisting with wildlife, especially carnivores, are similar on several fronts worldwide. However, the reasons that underpin these challenges are unique to each setting. I aim to continue this line of research that incorporates diverse contexts (social, cultural, political) whether in an academic position or as a part of a research organization. I enjoy teaching and talking about my work for which I incorporate storytelling as a tool to bridge cultural gaps between my research and my audiences. I hope that through my work I can contribute towards addressing these complex challenges of conservation and coexistence, empower future conservationists to critically assess issues from multiple perspectives, and educate more people about the tiger and its importance in the wild.
