Ranjini Murali

MSc, University of St Andrews 

PhD, Manipal University

Humboldt Universität zu Berlin

I am a conservation scientist working at the intersection of nature and culture. My research focuses on how people value and interact with nature, how it is managed, and the resulting social-ecological outcomes. My experience is primarily in pastoral systems where communities share space with wildlife, particularly in Spiti and Ladakh, India, where people and snow leopards coexist. For my PhD, I examined how local communities use, value, and manage ecosystem services in snow leopard landscapes.
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I am currently a Junior Professor at Humboldt University, Berlin. I collaborate closely with conservation NGOs and government agencies to translate research into on-ground conservation action. Previously, I worked as a Senior Scientist at the Snow Leopard Trust, Assistant Coordinator for the Global Snow Leopard Protection Programme, and with the Nature Conservation Foundation and Azim Premji University. In these roles, I have contributed to both research and the implementation of conservation programs, including working at the policy interface to support human-wildlife coexistence.