Akshatha Venkatesh Sumathi

Akshatha V S is currently working as an External Consultant at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS), where she contributes to initiatives focused on the conservation and restoration of urban freshwater ecosystems to enhance biodiversity, strengthening water security, and mitigatinge urban heat stress. Her role involves ecological field research, monitoring, and applying scientific knowledge to support the sustainable restoration of urban landscapes, especially lake systems.

Akshatha’s key areas of expertise include biodiversity assessment, forest ecology, lake restoration, and the evaluation of ecosystem services. She brings significant experience in field-based ecological monitoring, plant and soil sampling, long-term vegetation studies, and the use of ecological indicators to inform restoration outcomes. Her work is rooted in understanding the complex relationships between land-use change, ecological health, and community well-being across diverse landscapes.

Before joining IIHS, Akshatha worked as a Research Associate at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), where she contributed to  major projects. These included developing sustainable urban gardening models in Bengaluru and conducting socio-ecological assessments in Kanakapura Taluk, Ramanagara District. Her responsibilities spanned survey design, household and ecological data collection, stakeholder engagement, and report writing.

She also served at Doresanipalya forest campus, the Environmental Management and Policy Research Institute (EMPRI), where she undertook floristic and soil property studies and assessed the ecological impact of grazing across forested regions in Karnataka. Over the years, she has collaborated with the Karnataka Forest Department and other institutions, contributing research across several ecological regions including Madikeri, Karwar, Mangaluru, Shivamogga, Mysuru, Bengaluru, Hassan, and Ramanagara.

Akshatha holds a postgraduate degree in Botany and has completed certifications in ecological field techniques and GIS. She is known for her strong field research skills, effective scientific communication, and deep commitment to applied ecological work that supports evidence-based conservation and sustainable development.