About Me.

Amit Kaushik is a conservation social scientist, National Geographic Explorer, and Ph.D. candidate in Integrative Conservation and Anthropology at the University of Georgia. He bridges the natural and social sciences to examine how conservation science, caste, and species interact in Central India, with a particular focus on how tiger reintroduction reshapes human-wildlife relationships, drives displacement, and transforms the everyday lives of both human and more-than-human actors.​ Amit’s interdisciplinary work draws on political ecology, human animal studies, and subaltern studies to explore contested conservation landscapes beyond protected areas. As an External Scholar at the Wildlife Institute of India, he collaborates on projects that emphasize community-based conservation and the lived experiences of Dalit and Adivasi communities navigating state-led biodiversity projects. In addition to his research, Amit serves as Secretary of the Social Science Working Group of the Society for Conservation Biology and is a co-editor of The Social, its official blog. He is deeply committed to public scholarship and inclusive conservation, and has led participatory projects that use storytelling, photovoice, and collaborative mapping to amplify subaltern and multispecies voices in environmental governance. 

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Amit is available to speak on topics related to conservation and caste, human-wildlife coexistence, and the ethics and politics of rewilding in South Asia. Please use the contact form to reach out for speaking engagements, collaborations, or media inquiries.