Krithi Karanth

Krithi Karanth is a conservation biologist who is chief conservation scientist and director at the Centre for Wildlife Studies (CWS), Bangalore, India and an adjunct faculty member of the Nicholas School at Duke University in the United States and the National Centre for Biological Sciences in India.

Karanth is a National Geographic Explorer, Her mother Prathibha Karanth worked as a professor at the SRC Institute of Speech and Hearing, Bangalore. Karanth did postdoctoral work at Columbia University from 2009-2010. In her doctoral thesis, Karanth studied the extinction of species of large mammals in India. This work was published in Proceedings of The Royal Society of London in 2010. Her research work on resettlement has been used as a basis for Central government policy decisions. Her research on tourism was presented as evidence in a Supreme Court case that reviewed guidelines for national wildlife tourism.

Children, particularly those living near wildlife reserves, are likely to first experience wild animals as causes of damage to people, crops, and livestock. This can be traumatic and result in significant economic hardship. Humane Highways (2018), Wild Shaale, Flying Elephants (2020, with Prakash Matada) and Wild Surakshe (2020). Karanth appeared with Kevin Pietersen in Save This Rhino: India (2020), produced by Disney Hotstar and National Geographic. 2012-2017, Ramanujan Fellow 2012, National Geographic Emerging Explorer. 2012, one of India's Power Women, Femina. 2013, Women of the Year, Elle India. 2013, Outstanding Young Alumnus, University of Florida 2013, INK Fellow, INK Global Foundation 2015, Young Global Leader, World Economic Forum 2018, Thrive Leadership Award, Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle, USA (with Ullas Karanth) 2019, Rolex Awards for Enterprise, Rolex. 2019, The Anokhi Passion List 2019, Women of Discovery Awards, WINGS WorldQuest 2020, Eisenhower Fellowship 2023, World Sustainability Award, MDPI Sustainability Foundation 2024, The Explorers Club 50 2025, John P. McNulty Prize, Anne Welsh McNulty and Aspen Institute