OUR TEAM
Vishwanath S is the founder of Rainwater Club, Director of Biome Environmental Solutions, and Trustee of Biome Environmental Trust. He is a Civil Engineer from Mysore University and a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from CEPT, Ahmedabad. He holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Urban Environmental Management from Rotterdam in the Netherlands. A member of the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance, he is also an Ex-Secretary General of the International Rainwater Catchment Systems Association. He serves as an Adjunct Professor at Azim Premji University, and has been a columnist at the Hindu since May 2007 (‘Waterwise’ in Property Plus on Saturdays).
Chitra Vishwanath is the senior architect and managing director of Biome Environmental Solutions (www.biome-solutions.com), a multidisciplinary firm working in the field of ecological architecture and intelligent water and waste designs, and a Trustee of Biome Environmental Trust.
After graduating from the School of Architecture CEPT India in 1990, she started her practice in Bengaluru in 1991. Architectural practice for her has been a serendipitous flow where everyone at Biome tries to make every challenge of material, ecology, and requirements amalgamate into a design of an ecosystem.
She has also been involved in teaching and design workshops. She was the Charles Correa Academic Chair at Goa College of Architecture in 2018 and a design mentor at NITTE Mangalore in 2019. Her latest academic project was conducting the monsoon semester at School of Architecture CEPT Ahmedabad in 2020.
She was a juror at 2A Continental Architectural Awards Madrid 2019 and the Asia Edition of YTAA 2020 conducted by Fundacio Mies Van Der Rohe Barcelona.
Avinash is a Director and Project Manager at Biome Environmental Solutions, and the Chief Program Officer for S3IDF. He has extensive experience in water, energy, solid waste management, and small infrastructure sectors in project conceptualization, design and implementation. He has worked in the information technology sector with Infosys Technologies Limited where he managed international client relationships and led teams. He enjoys gardening and playing the fool with his twin daughters. He has been at Biome since 2007.
Shubha holds a B.E. (Civil) from IIT Mumbai and has been at Biome since 2008. She is the Manager of Water Projects at Biome Environmental Solutions, and a Water Sustainability Consultant at Biome Environmental Trust. Shubha has worked as Senior Technical Architect, Project Manager and Systems Analyst at Infosys for 11 years. She has designed and implemented several rainwater harvesting and wastewater treatment systems primarily in and around the city of Bengaluru. She is a classical singer of Carnatic music and performs on festive occasions.
After spending 23 years as an Oral Pathologist, Uma decided to learn about water and related subjects. She is a permaculturist with interests in vegan farming, seed-saving, eco-restoration, birds and trees. At Biome since 2017, she coordinates projects and takes up farm consultancies.
Suma has an MSc in Analytical Chemistry from St. Joseph’s, and has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for more than 10 years, the last five of which were at Biocon R&D. She is very interested in aspects of biodiversity, such as trees, birds and insects. She is an adventure sports enthusiast and mountaineer, and has participated in various triathlons and marathons. At Biome since 2018, she is a Project Officer and is anchoring projects to understand the wetlands of Bangalore as well as help build a Citizen Lakes Dashboard.
With a B. Arch from UVCE, Shivanand worked as an architect at RSP Design Consultants for 13 years before switching careers to become a Water Management and Sustainability Consultant at Biome in 2018. He is interested in sustainable architecture, water and waste management, kitchen gardening, alternative education and psychology. He also participates in marathons and padayatras for social causes.
Nikita is an ecological designer, with a background in natural building, permaculture and participatory design. She has been working with various communities over the past 6 years to build owner-driven shelters, using appropriate design strategies and environment friendly materials (earth, bamboo and natural plasters). Strongly rooted in circular design systems, her designs incorporate passive energy techniques, integrated water and waste management. She mostly loves to be outdoors and tries to live a hands-on DIY lifestyle – be it gardening, building or facilitating experiential learning for children. She joined Biome in 2020 to learn about and work on water projects.
Srivalli is a gold medalist in BE Civil Engineering and holds a Masters degree in Public Space Design. In her 4 years of work experience, she has developed convergence in structural technicalities, skill in art and design thinking. She joined Biome in 2019 because of her passion for water conservation practices and technologies, where she is trying to explore stories connecting space, water, systems and people using design thinking tools and research tools. She enjoys traveling and expressing her stories through her sketches, and loves history, art and culture.
Rakshitha holds an MA in Economics from Mount Carmel College, Bengaluru. She started her journey with Biome in 2020 documenting Tumakuru’s water and sanitation. Development and environment are her broad areas of interest. Entrepreneurship, public policy and rural development are very close to her heart. She enjoys being outdoors, especially in the countryside, and interacting and learning from people.
Srinivas has a BE in Computer Science from RVCE, Bengaluru. He worked at Cisco Systems for 19 years as a software engineer and also managed engineering teams and client interactions. He is interested in sustainable living, organic farming and environmental conservation. He likes to work in his terrace garden where he grows vegetables, to participate in marathons and pen some narratives and poems occasionally. He joined Biome in 2021 to learn and work on water-related projects.
Bhavani has a Diploma in Secretarial Practice and was working in Jain International Residential School. She did a course in interior designer and worked for over 6 years in architectural firms like Total Environment, Gayathri and Namith Architects and Dsign Creativity Unlimited. She has been a part of the Biome team since 2022. Fashion designing, DIY furniture and kitchen gardening are her other areas of interest.
Ayushi is a Geology post-Grad from Manipal Academy of Higher Education. She is ardent about climate change issues and believes in action research. As a researcher, she worked on the impact of climate change on Glacio-Hydrology of Himalayan glaciers at Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. She has worked on assessing the impact of anthropogenic activities on the lake systems of southern India. She strives to continue working towards climate change mitigation, adaptation and sustainability at the grassroots level. A perpetual learner by nature, she enjoys playing board games, watching true crime documentaries and reading books. She lives a minimalist lifestyle and loves DIY upcycling projects. She has been with Biome since September 2022.
Neelima is a software engineer by training. After working in the IT sector for about 9 years, she switched to the environmental sector to pursue her long-term interest in natural systems and the life they create. In pursuit of living a sustainable life in an urban setting, she has acquired many basic life skills including tailoring, basic carpentry, growing food, making natural cosmetics, soaps, cleaners etc. She is a trained Kathak dancer and an ardent permaculture practitioner. She is currently pursuing her PG Diploma in Environment and Sustainable Development from IGNOU. She joined Biome in 2022 to learn about and work on the water systems of her hometown – Bengaluru, the biology around it and how it ties to the socio-economic system of the society.
BIOME ALUMNI
Aditi has an MSc in Biodiversity from Pune and an MA in Development Studies from Azim Premji University. She was at Biome from 2014 to May 2021, during which she anchored Biome’s engagements with schools which focused on water literacy and rainwater harvesting. She also coordinated Biome’s projects on participatory groundwater management. She has also worked on research, analysis and documentation, and written science articles for a web platform. She loves history and anthropology, and is an avid balcony gardener. She is keenly interested in sustainability and its implications, which she continues to explore.
Kruthika is an architect who is currently pursuing her Masters in Disaster Resilience and Sustainable Development at the University of Newcastle, Australia. Her architecture thesis was selected by the NIASA (National Institute for Advanced Study in Architecture). She has worked at Studio Decode and Opus Architects, and also as a Lake Steward at Jakkur Lake with Jalaposhan. She was with Biome from August 2019 to September 2020. Apart from work and studies, she’s interested in volunteering. Currently she volunteers at 3 different places; Volunteer For India (as research lead), UN OSDG (as SDG Labeler) and another UN non-profit organization called SODEIT (as Research Analyst). In her spare time, she loves to dance and read a thought provoking book.
Sanjana is a civil engineer who has interned at Langan Engineering and Environmental Services and is co-founder of Curlfriendstravel, a food and travel blog + experiential company. She was with Biome from February 2019 to April 2020 and is currently a Research Assistant at the Centre for Social and Environmental Innovation, ATREE. She is a Global Ambassador for the FY20 Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and has been certified as an Engineer in Training and a Leed Green Associate. Her favourite hobbies are playing a sport (mostly football and badminton), and experimenting with different cuisines in the kitchen. She also enjoys traveling and exploring different cultures through their cuisines.
Anand is a commerce graduate from Karnataka University and is currently the COO at CreditAccess India Foundation. He has had a varied and interesting career, having worked with Mentorware, tArAng, Sify eLearning, SunGard, Mapunity Ballytech, and Navya Disha, aside from his stint with Biome from 2017 to 2019. His interests include travel, music, cinema, current affairs and farming. He has been very active in social and political activism – he helped organise and participated in a padayatra from Mandur to Bengaluru against garbage dumping at Mandur; helped organise the Save Lokayukta campaign; actively campaigned for 24 Loksatta candidates in the 2012 MLC and 2013 State Assembly elections; and was city coordinator for Bengaluru in the India Against Corruption movement. He formed the Alahalli Lake & Neighbourhood Development Trust along with like-minded people, and played a big role in the rejuvenation of the lake.
Shreyas is an engineer with a Masters in Development and Development Management. Other than his stint with Biome from June 2016 to Dec 2018, he has worked at Accenture, S3IDF, INREM Foundation and FFEM. He was a co-awardee of the Wipro Sustainability Fellowship in 2017. He enjoys travelling and is interested in sustainable agricultural practices. He is currently the Chief Operating Officer at Heuristic Devices Pvt Ltd.
Kiran has a Masters in Water Policy & Governance from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. He has worked on application of data and technology tools in social development, on water quality and health linkages. He was a co-awardee of the Wipro Sustainability Fellowship in 2017. After a stint in Biome from 2016 – 18, he is now with INREM Foundation, where he is the Lead for Technology Integration and the District Coordinator for the EU program. Since 2019 he has been working on creating and implementing processes and practices to help improve water security and better nutrition for all.
Sandipa has been a software engineer for 12 years. In a bid to try something different, she was with Biome from February 2015 to October 2017. Her interests are wide ranging, from gardening, cooking, reading non-fiction, law and taking part in political discussions. She says she is still observing and learning from people around her and gets a lot of energy from being part of collectives and groups of like-minded people.
Siddharth is an Environmental Engineer from the Ohio State University, U.S.A and has studied Water Resource Engineering and Management at the Universität Stuttgart, Germany. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D at the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences at Delft University of Technology, Netherlands. In September 2019 he received the IAHR Kennedy YPN Award and has also got a Scholarship from the Ministry of Education, Germany for academic excellence and high involvement in extracurricular activity, of which he has many! His hobbies include adventure sports, hiking, kayaking, biking, camping, football, playing the guitar, music and reading. He has also worked as a whitewater kayaking instructor. He was with Biome from September 2015 – August 2017, and alongside his PhD, he also works with the Water Treatment and Resource Recovery Team of the KWR Water Research Institute in the Netherlands.
Rajiv is a Masters in Computer Science (Analytics) and has worked with Acengage Infoservices Pvt Ltd, KPMG, Mindtree and TCS. He was with Biome from September 2011 to February 2017, and is currently Senior Research Analyst with Amazon. His interests include gardening and fishkeeping.
OUR TEAM
Vishwanath S is the founder of Rainwater Club, Director of Biome Environmental Solutions, and Trustee of Biome Environmental Trust. He is a Civil Engineer from Mysore University and a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from CEPT, Ahmedabad. He holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Urban Environmental Management from Rotterdam in the Netherlands. A member of the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance, he is also an Ex-Secretary General of the International Rainwater Catchment Systems Association. He serves as an Adjunct Professor at Azim Premji University, and has been a columnist at the Hindu since May 2007 (‘Waterwise’ in Property Plus on Saturdays).
Chitra Vishwanath is the senior architect and managing director of Biome Environmental Solutions (www.biome-solutions.com), a multidisciplinary firm working in the field of ecological architecture and intelligent water and waste designs, and a Trustee of Biome Environmental Trust. After graduating from the School of Architecture CEPT India in 1990, she started her practice in Bangalore in 1991. Architectural practice for her has been a serendipitous flow where everyone at Biome tries to make every challenge of material, ecology, and requirements amalgamate into a design of an ecosystem. She has also been involved in teaching and design workshops. She was the Charles Correa Academic Chair at Goa College of Architecture in 2018 and a design mentor at NITTE Mangalore in 2019. Her latest academic project was conducting the monsoon semester at School of Architecture CEPT Ahmedabad in 2020. She was a juror at 2A Continental Architectural Awards Madrid 2019 and the Asia Edition of YTAA 2020 conducted by Fundacio Mies Van Der Rohe Barcelona.
Avinash is a Director and Project Manager at Biome Environmental Solutions, and the Chief Program Officer for S3IDF. He has extensive experience in water, energy, solid waste management, and small infrastructure sectors in project conceptualization, design and implementation. He has worked in the information technology sector with Infosys Technologies Limited where he managed international client relationships and led teams. He enjoys gardening and playing the fool with his twin daughters. He has been at Biome since 2007.
Shubha holds a B.E. (Civil) from IIT Mumbai and has been at Biome since 2008. She is the Manager of Water Projects at Biome Environmental Solutions, and a Water Sustainability Consultant at Biome Environmental Trust. Shubha has worked as Senior Technical Architect, Project Manager and Systems Analyst at Infosys for 11 years. She has designed and implemented several rainwater harvesting and wastewater treatment systems primarily in and around the city of Bengaluru. She is a classical singer of Carnatic music and performs on festive occasions.
After spending 23 years as an Oral Pathologist, Uma decided to learn about water and related subjects. She is a permaculturist with interests in vegan farming, seed-saving, eco-restoration, birds and trees. At Biome since 2017, she coordinates projects and takes up farm consultancies.
Suma has an MSc in Analytical Chemistry from St. Joseph’s, and has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for more than 10 years, the last five of which were at Biocon R&D. She is very interested in aspects of biodiversity, such as trees, birds and insects. She is an adventure sports enthusiast and mountaineer, and has participated in various triathlons and marathons. At Biome since 2018, she is a Project Officer and is anchoring projects to understand the wetlands of Bangalore as well as help build a Citizen Lakes Dashboard.
With a B. Arch from UVCE, Shivanand worked as an architect at RSP Design Consultants for 13 years before switching careers to become a Water Management and Sustainability Consultant at Biome in 2018. He is interested in sustainable architecture, water and waste management, kitchen gardening, alternative education and psychology. He also participates in marathons and padayatras for social causes.
Nikita is an ecological designer, with a background in natural building, permaculture and participatory design. She has been working with various communities over the past 6 years to build owner-driven shelters, using appropriate design strategies and environment friendly materials (earth, bamboo and natural plasters). Strongly rooted in circular design systems, her designs incorporate passive energy techniques, integrated water and waste management. She mostly loves to be outdoors and tries to live a hands-on DIY lifestyle – be it gardening, building or facilitating experiential learning for children. She joined Biome in 2020 to learn about and work on water projects.
Srivalli is a gold medalist in BE Civil Engineering and holds a Masters degree in Public Space Design. In her 4 years of work experience, she has developed convergence in structural technicalities, skill in art and design thinking. She joined Biome in 2019 because of her passion for water conservation practices and technologies, where she is trying to explore stories connecting space, water, systems and people using design thinking tools and research tools. She enjoys traveling and expressing her stories through her sketches, and loves history, art and culture.
Rakshitha holds an MA in Economics from Mount Carmel College, Bengaluru. She started her journey with Biome in 2020 documenting Tumakuru’s water and sanitation. Development and environment are her broad areas of interest. Entrepreneurship, public policy and rural development are very close to her heart. She enjoys being outdoors, especially in the countryside, and interacting and learning from people.
Srinivas has a BE in Computer Science from RVCE, Bengaluru. He worked at Cisco Systems for 19 years as a software engineer and also managed engineering teams and client interactions. He is interested in sustainable living, organic farming and environmental conservation. He likes to work in his terrace garden where he grows vegetables, to participate in marathons and pen some narratives and poems occasionally. He joined Biome in 2021 to learn and work on water-related projects.
Bhavani has a Diploma in Secretarial Practice and was working in Jain International Residential School before she did an Interior Designer course and worked for over 6 years in Architectural firms like Total Environment, Gayathri and Namith Architects and Design creativity unlimited. She has been actively involved in Biome water management team from 2022. Fashion designing, DIY furniture, kitchen gardening are her other areas of interest.
Ayushi is a Geology post-Grad from Manipal Academy of Higher Education. She is ardent about climate change issues and believes in action research. As a researcher, she worked on the impact of climate change on Glacio-Hydrology of Himalayan glaciers at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. She is presently working on assessing the impact of anthropogenic activities on the lake systems of southern India. She strives to continue working towards climate change mitigation, adaptation and sustainability at grassroot level. A perpetual learner by nature, she enjoys playing board games, watching true crime documentaries and reading books.She lives a minimalist lifestyle and loves DIY upcycling projects.
Neelima is a software engineer by training. After working in the IT sector for about 9 years, she switched to the environmental sector to pursue her long-term interest in natural systems and the life they create.
In pursuit of living a sustainable life in an urban setting, she has acquired many basic life skills including tailoring, basic carpentry, growing food, making natural cosmetics, soaps, cleaners etc.
She is a trained Kathak dancer and an ardent permaculture practitioner. She is currently pursuing her PG Diploma in Environment and Sustainable Development from IGNOU. She joined Biome in 2022 to learn about and work on the water systems of her hometown – Bengaluru, the biology around it and how it ties to the socio-economic system of the society.
BIOME ALUMNI
Aditi has an MSc in Biodiversity from Pune and an MA in Development Studies from Azim Premji University. She was at Biome from 2014 to May 2021, during which she anchored Biome’s engagements with schools which focused on water literacy and rainwater harvesting. She also coordinated Biome’s projects on participatory groundwater management. She has also worked on research, analysis and documentation, and written science articles for a web platform. She loves history and anthropology, and is an avid balcony gardener. She is keenly interested in sustainability and its implications, which she continues to explore.
Kruthika is an architect who is currently pursuing her Masters in Disaster Resilience and Sustainable Development at the University of Newcastle, Australia. Her architecture thesis was selected by the NIASA (National Institute for Advanced Study in Architecture). She has worked at Studio Decode and Opus Architects, and also as a Lake Steward at Jakkur Lake with Jalaposhan. She was with Biome from August 2019 to September 2020. Apart from work and studies, she’s interested in volunteering. Currently she volunteers at 3 different places; Volunteer For India (as research lead), UN OSDG (as SDG Labeler) and another UN non-profit organization called SODEIT (as Research Analyst). In her spare time, she loves to dance and read a thought provoking book.
Sanjana is a civil engineer who has interned at Langan Engineering and Environmental Services and is co-founder of Curlfriendstravel, a food and travel blog + experiential company. She was with Biome from February 2019 to April 2020 and is currently a Research Assistant at the Centre for Social and Environmental Innovation, ATREE. She is a Global Ambassador for the FY20 Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and has been certified as an Engineer in Training and a Leed Green Associate. Her favourite hobbies are playing a sport (mostly football and badminton), and experimenting with different cuisines in the kitchen. She also enjoys traveling and exploring different cultures through their cuisines.
Anand is a commerce graduate from Karnataka University and is currently the COO at CreditAccess India Foundation. He has had a varied and interesting career, having worked with Mentorware, tArAng, Sify eLearning, SunGard, Mapunity Ballytech, and Navya Disha, aside from his stint with Biome from 2017 to 2019. His interests include travel, music, cinema, current affairs and farming. He has been very active in social and political activism – he helped organise and participated in a padayatra from Mandur to Bengaluru against garbage dumping at Mandur; helped organise the Save Lokayukta campaign; actively campaigned for 24 Loksatta candidates in the 2012 MLC and 2013 State Assembly elections; and was city coordinator for Bengaluru in the India Against Corruption movement. He formed the Alahalli Lake & Neighbourhood Development Trust along with like-minded people, and played a big role in the rejuvenation of the lake.
Shreyas is an engineer with a Masters in Development and Development Management. Other than his stint with Biome from June 2016 to Dec 2018, he has worked at Accenture, S3IDF, INREM Foundation and FFEM. He was a co-awardee of the Wipro Sustainability Fellowship in 2017. He enjoys travelling and is interested in sustainable agricultural practices. He is currently the Chief Operating Officer at Heuristic Devices Pvt Ltd.
Kiran has a Masters in Water Policy & Governance from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. He has worked on application of data and technology tools in social development, on water quality and health linkages. He was a co-awardee of the Wipro Sustainability Fellowship in 2017. After a stint in Biome from 2016 – 18, he is now with INREM Foundation, where he is the Lead for Technology Integration and the District Coordinator for the EU program. Since 2019 he has been working on creating and implementing processes and practices to help improve water security and better nutrition for all.
Sandipa has been a software engineer for 12 years. In a bid to try something different, she was with Biome from February 2015 to October 2017. Her interests are wide ranging, from gardening, cooking, reading non-fiction, law and taking part in political discussions. She says she is still observing and learning from people around her and gets a lot of energy from being part of collectives and groups of like-minded people.
Siddharth is an Environmental Engineer from the Ohio State University, U.S.A and has studied Water Resource Engineering and Management at the Universität Stuttgart, Germany. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D at the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences at Delft University of Technology, Netherlands. In September 2019 he received the IAHR Kennedy YPN Award and has also got a Scholarship from the Ministry of Education, Germany for academic excellence and high involvement in extracurricular activity, of which he has many! His hobbies include adventure sports, hiking, kayaking, biking, camping, football, playing the guitar, music and reading. He has also worked as a whitewater kayaking instructor. He was with Biome from September 2015 – August 2017, and alongside his PhD, he also works with the Water Treatment and Resource Recovery Team of the KWR Water Research Institute in the Netherlands.
Rajiv is a Masters in Computer Science (Analytics) and has worked with Acengage Infoservices Pvt Ltd, KPMG, Mindtree and TCS. He was with Biome from September 2011 to February 2017, and is currently Senior Research Analyst with Amazon. His interests include gardening and fishkeeping.
OUR TEAM
Vishwanath S is the founder of Rainwater Club, Director of Biome Environmental Solutions, and Trustee of Biome Environmental Trust. He is a Civil Engineer from Mysore University and a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from CEPT, Ahmedabad. He holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Urban Environmental Management from Rotterdam in the Netherlands. A member of the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance, he is also an Ex-Secretary General of the International Rainwater Catchment Systems Association. He serves as an Adjunct Professor at Azim Premji University, and has been a columnist at the Hindu since May 2007 (‘Waterwise’ in Property Plus on Saturdays).
Chitra Vishwanath is the senior architect and managing director of Biome Environmental Solutions (www.biome-solutions.com), a multidisciplinary firm working in the field of ecological architecture and intelligent water and waste designs, and a Trustee of Biome Environmental Trust. After graduating from the School of Architecture CEPT India in 1990, she started her practice in Bangalore in 1991. Architectural practice for her has been a serendipitous flow where everyone at Biome tries to make every challenge of material, ecology, and requirements amalgamate into a design of an ecosystem. She has also been involved in teaching and design workshops. She was the Charles Correa Academic Chair at Goa College of Architecture in 2018 and a design mentor at NITTE Mangalore in 2019. Her latest academic project was conducting the monsoon semester at School of Architecture CEPT Ahmedabad in 2020. She was a juror at 2A Continental Architectural Awards Madrid 2019 and the Asia Edition of YTAA 2020 conducted by Fundacio Mies Van Der Rohe Barcelona.
Avinash is a Director and Project Manager at Biome Environmental Solutions, and the Chief Program Officer for S3IDF. He has extensive experience in water, energy, solid waste management, and small infrastructure sectors in project conceptualization, design and implementation. He has worked in the information technology sector with Infosys Technologies Limited where he managed international client relationships and led teams. He enjoys gardening and playing the fool with his twin daughters. He has been at Biome since 2007.
Shubha holds a B.E. (Civil) from IIT Mumbai and has been at Biome since 2008. She is the Manager of Water Projects at Biome Environmental Solutions, and a Water Sustainability Consultant at Biome Environmental Trust. Shubha has worked as Senior Technical Architect, Project Manager and Systems Analyst at Infosys for 11 years. She has designed and implemented several rainwater harvesting and wastewater treatment systems primarily in and around the city of Bengaluru. She is a classical singer of Carnatic music and performs on festive occasions.
After spending 23 years as an Oral Pathologist, Uma decided to learn about water and related subjects. She is a permaculturist with interests in vegan farming, seed-saving, eco-restoration, birds and trees. At Biome since 2017, she coordinates projects and takes up farm consultancies.
Suma has an MSc in Analytical Chemistry from St. Joseph’s, and has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for more than 10 years, the last five of which were at Biocon R&D. She is very interested in aspects of biodiversity, such as trees, birds and insects. She is an adventure sports enthusiast and mountaineer, and has participated in various triathlons and marathons. At Biome since 2018, she is a Project Officer and is anchoring projects to understand the wetlands of Bangalore as well as help build a Citizen Lakes Dashboard.
With a B. Arch from UVCE, Shivanand worked as an architect at RSP Design Consultants for 13 years before switching careers to become a Water Management and Sustainability Consultant at Biome in 2018. He is interested in sustainable architecture, water and waste management, kitchen gardening, alternative education and psychology. He also participates in marathons and padayatras for social causes.
Nikita is an ecological designer, with a background in natural building, permaculture and participatory design. She has been working with various communities over the past 6 years to build owner-driven shelters, using appropriate design strategies and environment friendly materials (earth, bamboo and natural plasters). Strongly rooted in circular design systems, her designs incorporate passive energy techniques, integrated water and waste management. She mostly loves to be outdoors and tries to live a hands-on DIY lifestyle – be it gardening, building or facilitating experiential learning for children. She joined Biome in 2020 to learn about and work on water projects.
Srivalli is a gold medalist in BE Civil Engineering and holds a Masters degree in Public Space Design. In her 4 years of work experience, she has developed convergence in structural technicalities, skill in art and design thinking. She joined Biome in 2019 because of her passion for water conservation practices and technologies, where she is trying to explore stories connecting space, water, systems and people using design thinking tools and research tools. She enjoys traveling and expressing her stories through her sketches, and loves history, art and culture.
Rakshitha holds an MA in Economics from Mount Carmel College, Bengaluru. She started her journey with Biome in 2020 documenting Tumakuru’s water and sanitation. Development and environment are her broad areas of interest. Entrepreneurship, public policy and rural development are very close to her heart. She enjoys being outdoors, especially in the countryside, and interacting and learning from people.
Srinivas has a BE in Computer Science from RVCE, Bengaluru. He worked at Cisco Systems for 19 years as a software engineer and also managed engineering teams and client interactions. He is interested in sustainable living, organic farming and environmental conservation. He likes to work in his terrace garden where he grows vegetables, to participate in marathons and pen some narratives and poems occasionally. He joined Biome in 2021 to learn and work on water-related projects.
Bhavani has a Diploma in Secretarial Practice and was working in Jain International Residential School. She did a course in interior designer and worked for over 6 years in architectural firms like Total Environment, Gayathri and Namith Architects and Dsign Creativity Unlimited. She has been a part of the Biome team since 2022. Fashion designing, DIY furniture and kitchen gardening are her other areas of interest.
Ayushi is a Geology post-Grad from Manipal Academy of Higher Education. She is ardent about climate change issues and believes in action research. As a researcher, she worked on the impact of climate change on Glacio-Hydrology of Himalayan glaciers at Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. She has worked on assessing the impact of anthropogenic activities on the lake systems of southern India. She strives to continue working towards climate change mitigation, adaptation and sustainability at the grassroots level. A perpetual learner by nature, she enjoys playing board games, watching true crime documentaries and reading books. She lives a minimalist lifestyle and loves DIY upcycling projects. She has been with Biome since September 2022.
Neelima is a software engineer by training. After working in the IT sector for about 9 years, she switched to the environmental sector to pursue her long-term interest in natural systems and the life they create.
In pursuit of living a sustainable life in an urban setting, she has acquired many basic life skills including tailoring, basic carpentry, growing food, making natural cosmetics, soaps, cleaners etc.
She is a trained Kathak dancer and an ardent permaculture practitioner. She is currently pursuing her PG Diploma in Environment and Sustainable Development from IGNOU. She joined Biome in 2022 to learn about and work on the water systems of her hometown – Bengaluru, the biology around it and how it ties to the socio-economic system of the society.
BIOME ALUMNI
Aditi has an MSc in Biodiversity from Pune and an MA in Development Studies from Azim Premji University. She was at Biome from 2014 to May 2021, during which she anchored Biome’s engagements with schools which focused on water literacy and rainwater harvesting. She also coordinated Biome’s projects on participatory groundwater management. She has also worked on research, analysis and documentation, and written science articles for a web platform. She loves history and anthropology, and is an avid balcony gardener. She is keenly interested in sustainability and its implications, which she continues to explore.
Kruthika is an architect who is currently pursuing her Masters in Disaster Resilience and Sustainable Development at the University of Newcastle, Australia. Her architecture thesis was selected by the NIASA (National Institute for Advanced Study in Architecture). She has worked at Studio Decode and Opus Architects, and also as a Lake Steward at Jakkur Lake with Jalaposhan. She was with Biome from August 2019 to September 2020. Apart from work and studies, she’s interested in volunteering. Currently she volunteers at 3 different places; Volunteer For India (as research lead), UN OSDG (as SDG Labeler) and another UN non-profit organization called SODEIT (as Research Analyst). In her spare time, she loves to dance and read a thought provoking book.
Sanjana is a civil engineer who has interned at Langan Engineering and Environmental Services and is co-founder of Curlfriendstravel, a food and travel blog + experiential company. She was with Biome from February 2019 to April 2020 and is currently a Research Assistant at the Centre for Social and Environmental Innovation, ATREE. She is a Global Ambassador for the FY20 Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and has been certified as an Engineer in Training and a Leed Green Associate. Her favourite hobbies are playing a sport (mostly football and badminton), and experimenting with different cuisines in the kitchen. She also enjoys traveling and exploring different cultures through their cuisines.
Anand is a commerce graduate from Karnataka University and is currently the COO at CreditAccess India Foundation. He has had a varied and interesting career, having worked with Mentorware, tArAng, Sify eLearning, SunGard, Mapunity Ballytech, and Navya Disha, aside from his stint with Biome from 2017 to 2019. His interests include travel, music, cinema, current affairs and farming. He has been very active in social and political activism – he helped organise and participated in a padayatra from Mandur to Bengaluru against garbage dumping at Mandur; helped organise the Save Lokayukta campaign; actively campaigned for 24 Loksatta candidates in the 2012 MLC and 2013 State Assembly elections; and was city coordinator for Bengaluru in the India Against Corruption movement. He formed the Alahalli Lake & Neighbourhood Development Trust along with like-minded people, and played a big role in the rejuvenation of the lake.
Shreyas is an engineer with a Masters in Development and Development Management. Other than his stint with Biome from June 2016 to Dec 2018, he has worked at Accenture, S3IDF, INREM Foundation and FFEM. He was a co-awardee of the Wipro Sustainability Fellowship in 2017. He enjoys travelling and is interested in sustainable agricultural practices. He is currently the Chief Operating Officer at Heuristic Devices Pvt Ltd.
Kiran has a Masters in Water Policy & Governance from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. He has worked on application of data and technology tools in social development, on water quality and health linkages. He was a co-awardee of the Wipro Sustainability Fellowship in 2017. After a stint in Biome from 2016 – 18, he is now with INREM Foundation, where he is the Lead for Technology Integration and the District Coordinator for the EU program. Since 2019 he has been working on creating and implementing processes and practices to help improve water security and better nutrition for all.
Sandipa has been a software engineer for 12 years. In a bid to try something different, she was with Biome from February 2015 to October 2017. Her interests are wide ranging, from gardening, cooking, reading non-fiction, law and taking part in political discussions. She says she is still observing and learning from people around her and gets a lot of energy from being part of collectives and groups of like-minded people.
Siddharth is an Environmental Engineer from the Ohio State University, U.S.A and has studied Water Resource Engineering and Management at the Universität Stuttgart, Germany. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D at the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences at Delft University of Technology, Netherlands. In September 2019 he received the IAHR Kennedy YPN Award and has also got a Scholarship from the Ministry of Education, Germany for academic excellence and high involvement in extracurricular activity, of which he has many! His hobbies include adventure sports, hiking, kayaking, biking, camping, football, playing the guitar, music and reading. He has also worked as a whitewater kayaking instructor. He was with Biome from September 2015 – August 2017, and alongside his PhD, he also works with the Water Treatment and Resource Recovery Team of the KWR Water Research Institute in the Netherlands.
Rajiv is a Masters in Computer Science (Analytics) and has worked with Acengage Infoservices Pvt Ltd, KPMG, Mindtree and TCS. He was with Biome from September 2011 to February 2017, and is currently Senior Research Analyst with Amazon. His interests include gardening and fishkeeping.