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Madhuri Ramesh

Areas of Interest & Expertise

  • Nature-Society relations
  • Conservation and Development
  • Environmental subject-making (including Policy and Education)

Biography

Madhuri works on nature-society relations in coastal spaces and is interested in inclusive, interdisciplinary approaches to conservation and sustainability. She began by studying the ecology of rare reptiles but with field experience, became interested in political ecology. Hence her recent work weaves together strands from the natural and social sciences, as well as the humanities. Her research has spanned diverse landscapes ranging from hill forests in the Western Ghats to arid grasslands in the Thar desert and densely inhabited islands in the Bay of Bengal. She has also taught in a school, worked as a copy editor and managed projects in a commune. All of these experiences have enriched her worldview and research practices.

Certificate Courses

  • Ecological monitoring for climate change interventions

    This four-day residential workshop will introduce participants to simple, low-cost techniques that can be used for local ecological monitoring and discuss how they can be used to inform climate change interventions at the local level.

Publications and Writings

Research Articles (Published)

  • Pradyumna, A., Patil, S. and Ramesh, M. 2023. Considering vulnerable communities in climate mitigation and adaptation plans, India. Bulletin of the World Health Organization: BLT.22.288846
  • Ramesh, M. and Bijoor, S. 2021. Management of Marine Protected Areas in India. Economic & Political Weekly Vol LVI (25): 35 – 41.
  • Ramesh, M. 2021. Frenemies: Marine turtle conservation and economic development in the Rushikulya coast, eastern India. Journal of South Asian Development 16(1): 33 – 53.
  • Ramesh, M. 2020. A call to redefine ​‘the field’ in nature conservation studies in India. Ecology, Economy and Society – INSEE Journal.
  • Oommen, M. A. Cooney, R., Ramesh, M., Archer, M., Brockington, D., Büscher, B., Fletcher, R., Natusch, D. J. D., Vanak, A. T., Webb, G., and Shanker. K. 2019. The fatal flaws of compassionate conservation. Conservation Biology
  • Oommen, M. A. and Ramesh, M. 2019. Tides of change in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Ecology, Economy and Society — the INSEE Journal 2(1): 145 – 149.
  • Ramesh, M. and Namboothri, N. 2018. Maximum sustainable yield: a myth and its manifold effects. Economic & Political Weekly 53: 58 – 63.
  • Bijoor, S., Sharma, D., and Ramesh, M. 2018. Management of Marine Protected Areas in the Andaman Islands: Two case studies. Technical report. Dakshin Foundation, Bangalore. 40 pp.
  • Ramesh, M. 2018. Conservation amidst development in a nonequilibrium environment: a study of marine turtles in Odisha, India. PhD dissertation: Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment and Manipal Academy of Higher Education.
  • Ramesh, M. and Shanker, K. 2018. From fishe to flagship. Seminar 702: 37 – 40.
  • Muralidharan, R. and Ramesh, M. 2017. Marine protected areas in India: Protection for whom? In: Occupation of the Coast: Blue Economy in India. Programme for Social Action, New Delhi. 102 – 104.
  • Ramesh, M. and Rai, N. 2017. Trading on conservation: A marine protected area as an ecological fix. Marine Policy 82: 25 – 31.
  • Ramesh, M. and Sankaran, R. 2013. Natural history of the Indian spiny-tailed lizard Uromastyx hardwickii In: Faunal Heritage of Rajasthan, India. (Eds: BK Sharma, S Kulshreshtha and AR Rahmani). Vol I: 295 – 310. Springer, New York.
  • Deepak, V., Ramesh, M., Bhupathy, S. and Vasudevan, K. 2011. Indotestudo travancorica (Boulenger, 1907) – Travancore tortoise. In: Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A compilation project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group (Eds: Rhodin et al). Chelonian Research Monographs No.5, pp 054.1−054.6.
  • Ramesh, M. 2008. Relative abundance and morphometrics of the Travancore tortoise Indotestudo travancorica in the Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary, southern Western Ghats, India. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 7:108 – 113.
  • Ramesh, M. and Parthasarathy, N. 2006. A note on the diet of the Travancore tortoise (Indotestudo travancorica). Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 103 (1): 106.
  • Ramesh, M. 2004. Long distance dispersal by a Travancore tortoise (Indotestudo travancorica). Hamadryad 27 (1): 105.
  • Ramesh, M. 2002. Observations on the Travancore tortoise (Indotestudo forstenii) in captivity. ReptileRap, South Asian Reptile Network Newsletter 4: 4.

Books:

  • Ramesh, M. and Chandi, M. 2017. Walking is a way of knowing: In a Kadar forest. Tara Books, Chennai.
  • Chandi, M. and Ramesh, M. 2017. Speaking to an elephant and other tales from the Kadar. Tara Books, Chennai.

Outreach articles:

  • Ramesh, M. 2023. ​“For anyone who has an eye and a brain”. Current Conservation
  • Ramesh, M. 2022. The fruit of others’ labours. Current Conservation 16.3
  • Ramesh, M. 2022. ​“The older it grows, the more it seems to become agreeable.” Current Conservation 16.2
  • Ramesh, M. and Pradyumna, A. 2021. Ecosystems as public health services in India. The Bastion (Sept 13, 2021)
  • Ramesh, M. 2021. Trochus trade in the Andaman Islands: How top shells from the bottom of the sea got fished out. The Bastion (Feb 3, 2021).
  • Ramesh, M. 2021. Divers’ memories of Trochus fishing in the Andaman Islands. The Bastion (Feb 5, 2021).
  • Bijoor, S., Ramesh, M. and Sharma, D. 2019. Why is marine conservation still an uncharted zone? Mongabay-India (June12, 2019)
  • Sharma, D., Ramesh, M. and Bijoor, S. 2018. Development in Andaman and Nicobar Islands: for tourism or by tourism? Andaman Chronicle (Oct 5, 2018).
  • Ramesh, M. and Shanker, K. 2018. Turtle and I. Current Conservation 12.4
  • Ramesh, M. 2018. Tracking tortoises. Current Conservation 12.3.
  • Shanker, K. and Ramesh, M. 2017. Turtle song. Current Conservation 11.2.