Sudha Kottillil

Fishing for Change Program Leader

Sudha is an ecologist and researcher, who for the most part of her life grew up in a coastal city along the east coast of India. She has a master’s degree in Environmental Studies and Natural Resource Management following undergraduate studies in Zoology and Biotechnology. She interned and worked with different NGOs and research organisations on terrestrial ecosystems in India, before realising the lack of work being done in the marine space. It was during her master’s dissertation that she seeked out an opportunity to work on elasmobranchs and has ever since worked in the marine conservation space.

Having been brought up along the coast, she understands the importance of our oceans and seas and the complex interlinkages with livelihoods. She believes that successful conservation cannot happen through isolated work and needs to include the communities who are dependent on them. It means working in tandem to protect the rich marine biodiversity that India harbors, while ensuring the communities benefit and support these actions. Her interests lie at the intersection of science, policy and conservation actions.

She is also part of the Global Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN, the official youth constituency under the UN CBD) and one of the coordinators of the India chapter (Indian Youth Biodiversity Network). Through her work at PCFML, she aims to work towards identifying effective solutions to conserve marine life, work on fisheries issues and improve livelihoods, through fishing for change.