About me

I am Sutirtha Lahiri, a PhD student in Conservation Science at the University of Minnesota, USA. I am at Dr. Sushma Reddy’s research group. I am also a recipient of the ICGC (Interdisciplinary Center for the study of Global Change) fellowship- an interdisciplinary group that emphasizes on looking beyond one’s one discipline and incorporate that in thesis and practice. I was one of seven chosen for the fellowship throughout the university. Previously, I was a researcher at IISER Pune and an alumnus of the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. I  have travelled extensively in search of birds, but these forays have taught and enriched me with more than just birds; from meeting some fantastic people to visiting some beautiful place, and to experiencing local culture and good food, I must admit that birding has given me much more than just a life-list to tick off. This website is dedicated to birds and travel and people, and some more birds. In this website, you can also find information about my current and past research, some photographs from fieldwork as well as how to reach out to me!

When I am not birding, I am usually seen with a cup of tea, ready to discuss books, music, movies, and (sometimes) the trivialities of life.

About the cover picture: This photo was taken during our first WII 16th M.Sc. batch orientation tour to Landsdowne, Uttarakhand. We are atop a ridge overlooking the forests of Landsdowne merging with Sonanadi. The moist deciduous forests of Landsdowne are magical, and are interspersed by passing clouds. As we stand there to catch our breath, we imagine seeing hornbills emerge from the clouds, only to be consumed by the forests. Far away, as I noticed a few years later, lies a network of agriculture land, something that did not catch our eye that was only taught to see the natural contiguity. To me, the presence of a forest and the agricultural land denotes a space- and indeed a reality- that India and other developing countries have, and will continue to have into the near future. A landscape that is not just dictated by the natural, but also the human, the political, the geographical and an amalgamation of many other disciplines merging to eventually convey a story. A story where life flourishes, resists, despairs, breaks and joins back.