Meet the Bay Bridges fellows!

The encouraging number of applications that poured in reflected a great mix of journalists, communicators and researchers. After careful consideration, a final 16 were selected for the program.

Diwash Gahatraj, Freelance journalist

Currently based in Siliguri, India, and a journalist for 18 years, Diwash has covered topics ranging from the environment, marginalized communities, climate change, health, food, and farming. He connects science and community through fact-based reporting. Diwash’s focus remains on the intersections of climate change, community resilience, and sustainable development in South Asia, often highlighting underreported topics and the impacts of environmental changes. His work has appeared in The Guardian, South China Morning Post, VICE News, IPS, Himal South Asia, Asian Democracy Chronicle, and Rest of World, India Today, The Print, etc.

Mousumi Kar, Co-founder, Blackboard, documentary filmmaker

A documentary filmmaker with a particular interest in rural and social issues, Mousumi has experience in the development sector, having worked on Post-Tsunami Response, disaster management, and the generation of alternative livelihoods. The National Rural Film Festival of India recognized one of her short films.

Priyadarshini Sen, Independent journalist

Priyadarshini is an independent journalist based in Delhi. She writes about religion, politics, environment, social justice, and culture for Indian and US-based media and has reported widely across India, Asia, the United States, Europe, and North Africa.

Utchimahali M, Project scientist, Centre for International Forestry Research & World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF)

Utchimahali is a growing mangrove ecologist with a strong passion for mangrove conservation who has been dedicated to understanding these vital ecosystems since 2016. Early in his career, Utchimahali was captivated by the role of pollination in sustaining ecosystem stability, which led him to explore the reproductive ecology of mangrove species like Ceriops, Bruguiera, and Rhizophora, ultimately earning a PhD in this field. Today, he works with CIFOR-ICRAF, focusing on establishing long-term ecological monitoring sites across India. He aims to gain insights into how climate change impacts mangrove ecosystems and contribute to their resilience.

Ravleen Kaur, Independent journalist

Based in Assam, Ravleen reports mainly on environmental and rural issues. Her journalism career spans 14 years, wherein she reported from 11 of the 15 agro-climatic zones on biodiversity, industrial pollution, hydropower, RE, agriculture, land rights, livelihood, health and water, heritage, travel, food, and education. She worked with the Delhi edition of the Indian Express and Down to Earth magazine before taking up independent work. A National Foundation for India and an Earth Journalism Network grantee, she has been co-facilitating a residency on writing for social change for the last 2 years. She writes primarily for Mongabay India, Down to Earth, Gaon Connection, The Tribune, and The Indian Express. Besides journalism, she explores alternative education, natural farming, and baking.

Anup Mandal, Senior research fellow, West Bengal State University

Anup is a Senior Research Fellow (SRF) with the DBT, Government of India, working in the Environmental Biotechnology group under Dr. Krishna Ray. His research focuses on the interplay between bacteria and biogeochemical cycles, especially in mangrove ecosystems. By integrating metagenomics, classical microbiology, and biochemistry, they investigate the role of growth-promoting bacteria in enhancing mangrove health. Currently, he is developing a bacterial consortium to improve the survivability of rare and endangered mangrove species, addressing biodiversity loss in the Indian Sundarbans. Additionally, they analyze bacterial community structures in degraded, pristine, and restored mangrove patches, comparing monotypic and multi-species plantation and restoration strategies to enhance recovery efforts.

Chayan Kumar Giri, Senior research scholar, West Bengal State University

Chayan is an ecological restoration researcher with over four years of experience, focusing on rehabilitating mangroves in the Indian Sundarbans. His work emphasizes rare, endangered, threatened species and innovative restoration strategies to improve coastal ecosystems. He's designed intra- and inter-species facilitation experiments for restoration practices to better understand species assemblages. Chayan is interested in estimating carbon sequestration in restored areas, which highlights the critical role of mangroves in mitigating climate change. He is committed to promoting sustainable practices that protect and preserve our essential coastal environments.

Madhurima Pattanayak, Freelance science writer and journalist

Madhurima is a science writer and journalist based in Kolkata, India, and works at the intersection of science and society with a primary interest in health, environment, climate change, and the impact of climate change on health and society. She is also a storyteller, traveler, lifelong learner, and rock music connoisseur, digging into the history of science and society through rock music.

Aishwarya Mohanty, Independent journalist

Aishwarya is an independent journalist who reports on the often overlapping themes of environment, gender, rural issues, and social justice.

Nirupama Saini, PhD student, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, India

A PhD researcher working in marine biology, specifically focusing on mangrove ecosystems, Nirupama’s broader research interests include exploring the impact of climate change stressors on microbial communities, seawater carbonate chemistry, and microplastic pollution in marine ecosystems. Currently, her research investigates the effects of plastic pollution on the carbonate chemistry of coastal waters. She also examines the growing relationship between plastics and microbial communities, exploring how this interaction may influence biogeochemical processes, given the role of microbial communities in key nutrient cycles (e.g., carbon, nitrogen). Through this work, she aims to contribute to broader efforts in sustainable marine ecosystem management.

Aatreyee Dhar, Independent journalist

Aatreyee is an independent journalist based in Assam who focuses on health, conservation, the environment, and gender.

Sudip Debnath, PhD student, Vidyasagar University

Sudip is an early career researcher at Vidyasagar University and has completed an MSc in Geography from Calcutta University (2018-2020) and a postgraduate diploma in Geoinformatics from West Bengal Science and Technology, Saltlake. His internship with the Ahmedabad SAC project involved mangrove community zonation and biophysical characterization on the West Bengal coast. Sudip comes with field experience in carbon stock measurement and using RSET at Sundarban and Coringa mangroves in collaboration with CIFOR and USAID. He is interested in mangrove restoration, particularly in the Sundarban ecosystem, having participated in two national-level workshops on mangroves organized by IISER Kolkata and Burdwan University.

Barasha Das, Independent journalist

Barasha Das is an independent journalist from Guwahati, Assam. Her storytelling spans humanitarian issues, the environment, history, and culture. Her current work centers on climate change—exploring its causes, impacts, and mitigation strategies—alongside themes of environmental degradation, conservation, human-wildlife conflict, and indigenous knowledge systems. She excels in crafting long-form narratives, blending storytelling with research-based data. She also produces documentaries to complement her articles. Her documentary, Mountain Agriculture Marvel, won the Green Frames Vatavaran Award 2023. She was a Fellow of the Question of Cities-Climate Action Network South Asia Fellowship 2023 and an alumnus of the US government's International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) 2024.

Diya Banerjee, Director, Uttarayan Wildlife, and Governing body member, Nature Mates

Diya is an ecologist, communicator, climate warrior and conservationist conceptualizing and leading the largest degraded landscape restoration program in India. A SDG practitioner and communicator of the practice to climate refugees and other stakeholders, focusing on 1,2,4,10,13,15,17 with remote tribes of South Bengal, MP and Rajasthan, India, and creating ecological resilience in Sundarbans–the world’s biggest delta in India. She has the unique experience of communicating with local communities for awareness and project implementation, and shares local efforts and traditional knowledge with a larger audience.

Shamika Biswas, Freelance game and multimedia designer

A game designer with a focus on experience and narrative design, Shamika’s goals are to transmit information in creative ways, bring awareness towards environmental, mental health, and social issues, encourage people to think critically about the world around them, and create strange, abstract, fun, and memorable experiences. Shamika illustrates, films, and photographs their interests. They love understanding and implementing information-sharing and design methods.

Radhika Bhargava Gajre, Research fellow, National University of Singapore

Radhika is an interdisciplinary coastal geographer interested in understanding the changing tropical coastal ecosystems and community response to environmental change in developing countries. She has experience in using geospatial analysis, biophysical observation, and social science methods. She is a 2021 National Geographic Explorer, and recently completed her PhD as a President’s Graduate Fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Geography Department.