Garima Bora
Programme Associate – Marine Flagships
Qualifications: MSc Biodiversity and Conservation, GuruGobind Singh Indraprastha University (2020-2022)
BSc Life Sciences, Maitreyi College, Delhi University (2017-2020)
Email: garima.bora@dakshin.org
Profile: Garima has always felt drawn to the marine ecosystems despite spending her childhood in a landlocked city. The curiosity to explore the oceans led her to spend an undergraduate summer term at the Duke Marine Lab where she was introduced to rocky shores, tidal flats, marshes, mangroves, coral reefs and subtidal areas. There she worked on fiddler crabs, larval recruitment of marine fouling communities, and algal biofuels. Since then, she has worked on smooth-coated otters and migratory waterbirds. The dissertation was her breakthrough into the area of elasmobranch ecology. The study helped to build preliminary data about the diet composition of five shark species at Malvan, Maharashtra. Elasmobranch ecology remains unexplored along Indian coastal waters and she wishes to shed light on the probable behavioural and community ecology aspect of one of the oldest and most diverse groups of marine vertebrates.
At Dakshin, she works with the marine flagship team to build a long-term monitoring protocol for the elasmobranchs at Malvan. She also works with the outreach team to bring these magnificent creatures into the public eye.