Indian Foundation for Butterflies – Butterflies of India

Mihir Chhatre: My obsession with the great outdoors began at the age of twelve. Within a span of few years, I had covered nearly seventy forts across Maharashtra. I have a special interest in butterflies, and have been a regular participant at the annual ButterflyIndia meets. I am also a keen photographer, having done a certificate course in photography from Fergusson College, and enrolled for a Diploma in photojournalism from Light & Life Academy in Ooty. Since 2008, I have led several treks and wildlife camps for Foliage Outdoors. I am a web designer and run my own proprietary web-designing firm, "Thoughtfulviewfinder Services".

Ullasa Kodandaramaiah: I did my PhD on butterfly phylogenetics and biogeography in 2009 from Stockholm University, Sweden. I am currently doing my postdoctoral work in Cambridge University, UK. My broad interests are in the field of evolutionary biology and I have worked on various aspects including biogeography, phylogentics, population genetics, wing-pattern evolution, butterfly-Wolbachia interactions, etc. Born and brought up in Bangalore, I did my B.Sc in Forestry from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it me or visit my website if you want to learn more about my work.

Krushnamegh Kunte: I am a naturalist and professional biologist interested in studying the organization and evolution of biodiversity. I have a PhD in Biology from the University of Texas at Austin. Currently I am a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at Harvard University, where I study the ecology, evolution and genetics of mimicry in butterflies. Indian butterflies has been my overwhelming passion for most of my life. I have published several dozen research papers and two books on various aspects of the biology of Indian butterflies. Now my field work is concentrated on documenting butterfly diversity all over India, with a special focus on the Himalaya and NE India. Contact me by This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit my website if you want to learn more about my research and writing, the Indian Foundation for Butterflies, this website or Indian butterflies.

Vijay Barve: I am an IT professional by training and nature lover by heart. My interests are biodiversity documentation, databases, Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and citizens science. After completing Masters in Computer Science from University of Pune, I worked with Foundation for Revitalization of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT). I have also been associated with organizations such as WWF India, BNHS, RANWA, GBIF and MonarchWatch in different capacities. I was part of the core team to initiate DiversityIndia  in 2001 and have been coordinator since then.

Jai Sonwalkar: I am a Life Science graduate and love everything outdoors. I used to know more about birds than butterflies, but rearing 3 tailed jays at home changed that since. While nature is my passion, designing is food for my brain. I work as web/graphic/creative designer. On weekends, you'll find me volunteering with BNHS and NIC, bird watching, leading nature trails and trekking in the Sahyadri. I have also been trekking in the Himalaya for some time now. I am an amateur photographer, and hope to expand my sphere of knowledge with IFoundButterflies. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it me if you have any comments about the design and organization of this website.

Rohini Deshpande: I am a professional software engineer from Bangalore but I have a wide range of interests. I like trekking, bungee jumping, gardening, painting, reading, embroidering, cooking, etc. I started butterfly-watching a few years ago when I got my SLR camera. From then on this hobby has overtaken the rest. I keep going behind butterflies in my treks, I paint butterflies and I even do gardening for butterflies :). I like travelling especially to forests and mountains. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it me or visit my website to learn more.