T. R. Shankar Raman (aka Sridhar) is a constant wanderer with a miserable sense of direction. Even though he rarely knows where he is, he is seldom lost. When not doing field research on forest ecology or walking in the rainforests watching birds or trees, you are likely to find him with his nose in a book or downing his nth cup of coffee.

As a writer and wildlife scientist with the Nature Conservation Foundation, India, he studies the ecology and conservation of tropical forests and wildlife, based out of a field research station in the Anamalai or Elephant Hills. Besides his academic work, he is the author of The Wild Heart of India: Nature and Conservation in the City, the Country, and the Wild, shortlisted for the Valley of Words English Nonfiction Award. He co-authored, with his partner Divya Mudappa, Pillars of Life: Magnificent Trees of the Western Ghats.

He writes from his varied experiences in natural history, in conservation practice, in directionless wandering. His reflective essays are born of a conviction that there is a space for quiet yet insistent voices making a case for immersive and deeper perceptions of nature and our place in it. His essays have appeared in Orion, Fountain Ink, Earthlines, People's Archive of Rural India, Wildlife Conservation, and in a number of other national newspapers and magazines including Scroll.in, The Wire, The Hindu, Indian Express, and Deccan Herald.

He and his partner Divya Mudappa continue to lead a long-term rainforest conservation and restoration programme in the Anamalai Hills from their research station and home, peopled with researchers, conservationists, neighbourly leopards, and temperamental housecats. He blogs at View from Elephant Hills: http://www.shankarraman.in