Capt Suresh Sharma: Team Leader: He is founder of the Snake Cell; one of those lucky few who got introduced to the wonders of nature while yet a toddler. His father used to take him out to the nearby jungle patch for morning walks everyday and Suresh has kept in touch with nature to this day and it is now a passion with him. His love of nature, photography and travel got him to join Indian army, which took him to all corners of India and also abroad. But he left the army to pursue his hobbies whole time.

He has been associated with wildlife film projects including two for the National Geographic Society, USA. With talent & skill in numerous fields, he is an expert in designing and fabrication of natural history sets for shooting wildlife films under controlled conditions. He also designs cine support equipment for wildlife filming. His sole mission is `Nature Conservation Through Education’.

To make his projects worthwhile he escorts photo safaris. Also, he designs and manufactures souvenirs with wildlife motifs to raise funds for Snake Cell.

Dr Rajbir Kaur Sharma: Co-Team Leader: Rajbir is a qualified homeopath by profession. Now, teamed up with her husband (Capt Suresh) to accomplish their mission to educate people about snakes, basically, to save `Ignorant people, Innocent snakes’. She looks after the fund-raising activities, administration and is very active field-member of the team, co-ordinates the programs of Snake Cell.

ADVISORS

Dr Indraneil Das: Advisor Natural History: Indraneil Das received his doctorate from the University of Oxford, UK for his work on ecology. He has conducted fieldwork in many countries in south and south East Asia and is the Chairman of IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) South Asian Reptile and Amphibian Specialist Group. Neil has written several books and as well as numerous research papers on wildlife and has described several new species of snakes and lizards. He has taught at the Harvard University for one year. Currently, he is conducting scientific research and teaching at the Malaysian University.

Dr. Ranjan Maheshwari: Advisor Snakebite: has been working for the rescue of snakes and snakebite cases for more than last 10 years in Kota city of Rajasthan. Kota city is surrounded by forest and agricultural land which is a good habitat for `Big Four’ lethally venomous snakes of India. He has been helping many hospitals and healthcare centers in the medical management of snakebite cases voluntarily.  His pioneer work on "physiological manifestations under venom interactions" has led to award of Ph. D. degree to him, from IIT Roorkee. Justifying his academic credentials, he has developed objective methods to identify the biting species symptomatically and has published many papers, news paper articles and delivered many lectures on this topic. He is a referee to many journals. His mission is to reduce the cost of medical management of snakebite, which is much needed in Indian subcontinent. Currently, he is working as Associate Professor and Deputy Director (Academics) in Rajasthan Technical University, Kota (Rajasthan) INDIA.

D.N. Mazumdar: Advisor Environmental Education: In his career as a professional manager and Director of several companies, he spent his early years hunting when big game was plentiful throughout India. Long before the laws banning hunting came into being, he gave up hunting and became an ardent conservationist and served for several years on the committees of WWF, India in Calcutta and Madras. After retiring as a President of a well-known industrial company, he continued his environmental interests with an NGO in Dehradun, writing the `Endangered Valley’ for the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 and fighting to save the Rajaji National Park for the further degradation. He is at present in Dehradun as Environmental Advisor to the Confederation of Indian Industry working on issues like conservation of the ecosystem and bringing about an awareness for the need of water management etc.

Piers Warren: Advisor Film and Media: Piers Warren is well known throughout the wildlife film-making industry as the editor of Wildlife Film News and producer of www. wildlife-film.com - the industry’s information website. Although he has experience in many aspects of film-making he has specialised in multimedia productions through his company, Wildeye . He is regularly called upon as an Internet and communication consultant for wildlife film and conservation projects. In 2001 Piers was a final judge at the International Film Festival in Montana, USA, and in 2002 at NaturVision Wildlife Film Festival in Bavaria. In 2002 he produced the book Careers in Wildlife Film-making - the only careers guide of its kind. This has been hailed as essent ial reading for all those yearning to get into the industry. With a strong background in biology, education and conservation, he has had a lifelong passion for wildlife films and has a wide knowledge of natural history. He is the Vice President and one of the founders of the international organisation, Filmmakers for Conservation . He runs the FFC HQ in Norfolk UK.

We are convinced that these efforts will add a new chapter to the natural history scenario in the Indian subcontinent.