About Us
Members of ESG
Environment Support Group is an openly structured organisation that has achieved high levels of participation in its activities from its Full Time Staff, Trustees, Volunteers and Advisory Panel.
Trustees
Dr. Robert John Chandran is a Tropical Plant Ecologist presently a Fellow at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment, Bangalore. He has worked as a Smithsonian Fellow at the Dept. of Botany, University of Georgia, USA and University of Illinois. He has a Ph.D. from the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and his past degrees include M. Sc. and M Tech from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. His research interests include tropical forest ecology and management, conservation biology, protected area management and land use policy.
Arthur Pereira is an active human rights activist in Mangalore and has successfully led the demand for fair compensation by Dalit and minority communities due to the Bajpe airport for over a decade now. He is well versed on matters relating to Land Acquisition and has helped hundreds of farmers to benefit from the provisions of Land Reforms Act.
Leo F. Saldanha is full-time Coordinator of ESG. He has a background in Environmental Science from St. Joseph's College, Bangalore University. He has gained wide-ranging experience in the areas of Environmental Law and Policy, Decentralisation, Urban Planning and a variety of Human Rights and Development related issues working with NGOs for over a decade. He is a trainer on environmental law issues and various NGO training programmes. He was the Country Coordinator and Faculty of the "Cities in the 21st Century" and "Health and Community" courses of the International Honours Programme, USA. He also coordinates a number of other International study abroad programs in Bangalore, India.
Bhargavi S. Rao is a Trustee and Coordinator of Educational Programmes at ESG. She has a M. Phil. in Botany from Bangalore University. Prior to joining ESG she has worked in the Dept. of Microbiology and Cell Biology of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, worked as a lecturer in the BMS Women's College and as high-school teacher in Aurobindo School. She coordinates ESG's student awareness campaigns, educational and Training programmes and helps research on Campaign initiatives. She worked as Co-Country Coordinator and Faculty of the "Cities in the 21st Century" and "Health and Community" courses of the International Honours Programme, USA and teaches on other International study abroad programs coordinated by ESG in Bangalore.
Core Staff:
K. R. Mallesha is Administrative Officer at ESG. He has a background in Social Sciences from the Bangalore University and over a decade's experience working with NGOs. He is office administrator and coordinates documentation and ESG's Press Campaigns. He assists in coordinating the Solid Waste Management initiative and is involved in field organizing for various legal and field campaign initiatives.
Sruthi Subbanna has completed her Masters in Environmental Science from Oklahoma State University. While pursuing her Masters degree she worked on a project doing spatial analysis of trace metal and organic concentration in Oklahoma and Iowa black shale samples. At ESG she is working on the illegal dumping of biomedical wastes that occurred at Anjanapura layout and the illegal dumping of municipal solid waste at Mavallipura. She assists in all educational and training programs of ESG.
Anjali Vaidya has a background in biological sciences from Bryn Mawr College and manages ESG's website.
Shankari is an assistant documentalist and office support person.
Zeenath is a documentalist and assists in administrative work at ESG.
Venkatesh volunteers part time with ESG as a documentalist
ESG is an independent not-for-profit organisation that promotes the cause of environmental and social justice through research, documentation, advocacy, training and campaign support. We aim to support the rights of local communities and voiceless ecosystems in a responsible, progressive manner that keeps contextual complexities in mind.