EDUCATION
2017 - 2023: Ph.D., Columbia University, Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology. Advisor: Ruth DeFries
Thesis: Multifaceted Outcomes of Ecological Restoration for People and Biodiversity in India
2015- 2017: MEM, Yale University, School of the Environment
2007- 2010: B.Comm, Mumbai University, H.R. College of Commerce and Economics
RESEARCH AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2018- present: Co-founder, Project Dhvani
Project Dhvani is an organization using acoustic technology to monitor biodiversity to inform conservation and ecological restoration efforts and land-use management.
- I co-lead a team of ecologists, ornithologists, and computer scientists carrying out long-term acoustics research
- Six manuscripts from this organization are published, accepted and currently in revision
- Mentored four academic researchers in the field of applied acoustics and soundscape ecology
April 2023 - present: Postdoctoral research associate, University of Minnesota
- Examine the enabling conditions and outcomes of trees outside forests (ToF) in South Asia as part of a NASA Land Cover Land Use Change South Asia Research Initiative Synthesis project
2016- 2017: Research Assistant, Yale Environmental Leadership and Training Initiative
- Developed content for ELTI's course on restoration and reforestation in Asia and Latin America
2015- 2017: Program Manager, Yale Sustainable Food Program (YSFP), USA
- Developed and implemented YSFP's Seed to Salad program for local school students in New Haven
2012- 2015: Program Manager, Conservation Wildlands Trust, India
- Developed and taught an environmental education program to 1200 primary and middle school children
- Crowd-funded two libraries and a mobile library accessible to fifteen villages in the Pench- Kanha wildlife corridor
- Assisted CWT’s alternative livelihoods program for households in five villages in the corridor
2010- 2012: English Language and Literature teacher, ASPAEN Gimansio Cartagena De Indias, Colombia
PUBLICATIONS
Peer-Reviewed Journals (* = graduate mentee)
2024:
- Kotian, M., Sundar, P., Sangwan, T., & Choksi, P. Passive acoustic data yields insights into bird vocalization behavior associated with invasive shrub removal. Biotropica, 00, e13330.
- Choksi, P., Kotian, M.*, Burivalova, Z., DeFries, R. Social and ecological outcomes of tropical dry forest restoration through invasive species removal in Central India. Ecological Indicators 155(111054).
- Choksi, P., Kotian, M.*, Biniwale, S., Mourya, P., Korche, D., Agarwala, M., Khanwilkar, S., Ramesh, V. & Defries, R. Listening for Change: Using acoustics to evaluate the impact of ecological restoration of a tropical dry forest. Rest Ecol (2023). [Press: Down to Earth, State of the Planet, phys.org]
- Ramesh, V., Anand, A., Hariharan, P., Choksi, P., Khanwilkar, S., DeFries, R & Vijayan, R. Using acoustics to infer the effects of active restoration of degraded forest fragments on birds in the Western Ghats. Biol Cons 282: 110071 (2023).
- Choksi, P., Agrawal, A., Bialy, I., Chaturvedi, R., Frankel, K.D., Dhyani, S., Fleischman, F., Lechner, J., Nagendra, H., Srinivasan, V., Defries. R. Combining socioeconomic and biophysical data to identify people-centric restoration opportunities. npj biodivers 2,7 (2023). [Press: State of the Planet, Today Headline, Carbon Brief]
- Burivalova, Z., Maeda, T., Purnomo, Rayadin, Y., Boucher, T., Choksi, P., Roe, P., Truskinger, A., Game, E.T. Loss of temporal structure of tropical soundscapes with intensifying land use in Borneo. Science of the Total Environment (2022).
- DeFries, R., Agarwala, M., Baquie, S., Choksi, P., Khanwilkar, S., Mondal, P., Nagendra, H., Urpelainen, J. Improved Household Living Standards can Restore Dry Tropical Forest. Biotropica 00:1–11 (2021).
- Choksi, P., Singh, D., Singh, J., Mondal, P., Nagendra, H., Urpelainen, J. & DeFries, R. Sensitivity of Seasonal Migration to Climatic Variability in Central India. Environ. Res. Lett.(16) 064074 (2021).
- DeFries, R., Agarwala, M., Baquie, S., Choksi, P., Dogra, N., Preetha, G. S., ... & Urpelainen, J. Post-lockdown spread of COVID-19 from cities to vulnerable forest-fringe villages in Central India. Current Science (00113891), 119(1) (2020).
Manuscripts in review/ in revision (manuscript available on request, * = graduate mentee, ^= undergraduate mentee)
- Choksi, P., Variyar, P., Kotian, M.*, Rao, A.*, Shirodkar, G. In review. Urban forests are important reserves for biophony-rich soundscapes in hyper-urbanized environments.
- Kotian, M.*, Biniwale, S., Mourya, P., Burivalova, Z. & Choksi, P. In review. How effective are acoustic indices in quantifying biodiversity? A case study from a tropical dry forest in Central India.
- Schoen, J., Ramesh, V., Levin, M., Dubal, P., Choksi, P., Thomas, R., Heilpern, S.,Meek, J.,Melnick, D & Kross, S. In revision. Conservation funding does not track drivers of biodiversity loss.
Manuscripts in preparation
- Fesenmeyer, K., Poor, E., Terasaki-Hart, D., Veldman, J., Fleischman, F., Choksi, P., ....Cook-Patton, S. Addressing common critiques refines areas for restoring forest cover.
Book Chapters/Reports
Choksi, P. Examining Patterns and Impacts of Forest Resource Extraction and Forest Degradation in Tropical Dry Forests. In, Bhadouria, R., Tripathi, S., Srivastava, P. & Singh, P., editors, Handbook of Research on the Conservation and Restoration of Tropical Dry Forests. (2019).
RESEARCH GRANTS UNDER REVIEW:
2023: National Science Foundation Dynamics of Integrated Socio-Environmental Systems. “Tree cover expansion inside and outside of forests: Negotiating tradeoffs and synergies for people, biodiversity, and carbon”. USD 1.7 Million. Choksi as Principal Investigator (PI) with Forrest Fleischman (University of Minnesota) and Jennifer Powers (University of Minnesota) as co-PIs.
PREVIOUS RESEARCH GRANTS:
2022: National Geographic Meridian Collaborative Grant, $25,000
2021: Microsoft Azure Grant, $5000 (as co-PI)
2020: Research Grant, Center for Economic and Environmental Policy, Columbia University, $4930
2019: Early Career Grant, National Geographic Society, $9686
Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict and Complexity Research grant, Earth Institute, $6000
2018: E3B Graduate Student Field Research Grant, $3000
2016: Yale Tropical Resources Institute Research Fellowship, $6000
As a co-PI/ collaborator:
2021: Microsoft Azure Grant, $5000 (In collaboration with Keshav Bhandari and Vijay Ramesh)
AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS
2020: COVID-19 Grant Support, National Geographic Society, $1250
2019: Travel Grant, Earth Institute, $2000
2018: Seed grant, Center for Science and Society, Columbia University, $1200
2017-2022: Columbia University Dean’s Fellowship, ~$82,078/ year
2016: Wildlife Conservation Network Scholarship, $15,000
Andrew Sabin Environmental Fellowship, $20,000
MK McCarthy-RW Worth Scholarship, $2,500
MENTORSHIP
March 2023- present: Kiran Kanhurkar, Msc, Bharti Vidyapeeth University, Pune, India
May 2023- present: Pavithra Sundar, BSc, St Xaviers College, Mumbai India
2021- present: Mayuri Kotian, MSc, Bharti Vidyapeeth University, Pune, India
Sept 2021-Aug 2022 : Taksh Sangwan, currently MSc student at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru, India
Jan 2022- present: Aparna Rao, co-supervised thesis for MSc in Biodiversity Conservation at Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan's College, India
COVERAGE IN POPULAR MEDIA OUTLETS:
- “Listening to birds and animals to know how healthy forests are” 2023. Article in Nature India reports on article “Using acoustics to infer the effects of active restoration of degraded forest fragments on birds in the Western Ghats” published in Biological Conservation.
- “The Sounds of Restoration” 2023. Article in Mongabay reports on article “Listening for Change: Using acoustics to evaluate the impact of ecological restoration of a tropical dry forest” published in Restoration Ecology.
- “Scientists listen to the sounds of restoration | Bioacoustics in Kanha” 2023. Video in Mongabay reports on article “Listening for Change: Using acoustics to evaluate the impact of ecological restoration of a tropical dry forest” published in Restoration Ecology.
- “Study offers clues on ecological gain of weeding out Lantana” 2023. Article in Down To Earth reports on article “Listening for Change: Using acoustics to evaluate the impact of ecological restoration of a tropical dry forest” published in Restoration Ecology.
- “Tech Gone Wild” 2022. Article in Shastra Magazine reporting on acoustic research by Project Dhvani.
- “A chorus at dawn: using bioacoustics to quantify ecological restoration" 2021. Episode on the podcast, The Subverse reporting on acoustic research in central India.
- “Saving every tweet: Meet researchers using bird calls, AI to study biodiversity” 2021. Article in the Hindustan Times covering acoustics research by Project Dhvani.
RECENT CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS:
- Oral Presentation. "Social and ecological outcomes of nature-based solutions implementation in India". ICTA-UAB Conference 2024 - Growth vs Climate. March 2024. Barcelona, Spain.
- Oral Presentation. "Combining socioeconomic and biophysical data to identify people- centric restoration opportunities". ICTA-UAB Conference 2024 - Growth vs Climate. March 2024. Barcelona, Spain.
- Oral Presentation. "A people centric approach to restoration prioritization". Forests And Livelihoods Assessment, Research and Engagement (FLARE) Annual Meeting 2023. October 2023. Nairobi, Kenya.
- Lightening talk. "Ecological and Livelihood outcomes of tropical dry forest restoration". FLARE Annual Meeting 2023. October 2023. Nairobi, Kenya.
- Lightening talk. "Social and ecological outcomes of tropical dry forest restoration". Association of Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) Annual Meeting 2023. July 2023. Coimbatore, India.
- Oral Presentation. "Listening for Change: Using acoustics to evaluate the impact of ecological restoration of a tropical dry forest". ATBC Annual Meeting 2022. July 2022. Cartagena de Indias, Colombia.
- Oral presentation. "Sounds of Restoration: Understanding the impact of ecological restoration on fauna using bioacoustics". International Association for the Study of Commons - Forest Commons Virtual Conference. September 2021.
INVITED PANEL DISCUSSIONS/ SEMINARS/ TALKS:
- Invited seminar at the weekly seminar series at the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, College of Biological Sciences at the University of Minnesota. “Restoration in a human-dominated world: Understanding multifaceted outcomes for people & biodiversity to drive restoration policy”. October 2023. St. Paul, USA.
- Invited speaker. Workshop on Active Management of Invasives in Kanha Landscape organized by Foundation for Ecological Security for the Indian Forest Service of the state of Madhya Pradesh. July 2023. Bhopal, India.
- Invited panelist at Bloomberg Green Summit's panel: “Impact of Restoration: Connecting People and the Planet”. April 2023. New York, USA.
- Invited speaker at the symposium, “Use of passive acoustic monitoring to study birds” at the Bird Monitoring India Symposium 2023. March 2023 (Virtual).
- Invited speaker at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Using acoustics to evaluate the impact of ecological restoration of a tropical dry forest”. November 2022 (Virtual).
- Invited seminar at the Environmental Studies Colloquium at Ashoka University. “Restoration in a human-dominated world: Multi-faceted outcomes for people and biodiversity”. April 2022 (Virtual).
- Invited panelist on “Technological Advances on Bioacoustics for Research and Conservation”. National Geographic Society Explorers Festival Panel Discussion. May 2021 (Virtual).
- Invited speaker at the Linnean Society of London, UK. “Sounds of the Wild”. November 2020 (Virtual).
TEACHING:
2019: Teaching Fellow, Science for Sustainable Development, Columbia University
2019: Teaching Fellow, Introduction to Conservation Genetics, Columbia University
2018: Teaching Fellow, Food, Ecology and Globalization, Columbia University
LANGUAGES:
English, Spanish, Hindi, Gujarati (spoken), Marathi (spoken)
OUTREACH ARTICLES
Ecology
- Missing the trees for the forest, Dark 'N' Light
- Unravelling the Mysteries of Nature's Symphonies, Nature In Focus
- Using Bioacoustics to Unlock the Ecological Information in Soundscapes, NDTV
- A Mixtape from the Forests of Central India, Nature In Focus
Environmental Conservation and Development
- From Tilonia to Santa Teresa: One Woman’s Journey of bringing Solar Energy to her Village, Barefoot College
- Of Grimmett Guides And Solar Panels, Sanctuary Asia Magazine
SERVICE
Reviewer for Biotropica, Conservation Letters, Global Environmental Change, Environmental Earth Sciences
2023- present: Subject Editor, Biotropica
2023: Reviewer, SCCS-Bangalore
2022: Science committee member for the Central Indian Landscape Symposium (CILS 5) by the Network for Conserving Central India (NCCI).
2016- 2017: Co-chair, International Society of Tropical Foresters (ISTF) Yale Chapter
2007- 2009: Volunteer, National Service Scheme (Mumbai)
Member: Society for Conservation Biology, Ecological Society of America, Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation