A Bird and Animal Lover, Satish claims that he spent more nights in the forests of Rajasthan during his service at the Forest Department of Rajasthan than people did at their homes. That’s how much he loved forests and their ecosystems.

Dr. Satish Kumar Sharma served in various capacities in the Rajasthan Forest Department for more than thirty six years. He retired as an Assistant Conservator of Forests from the department in 2016. Currently, he is a Consultant with a Gujarat based NGO named Foundation for Ecological Security.

Satish was born in a small village named Mohammadpur in Alwar from where he received his primary school education. Then he completed the remainder of his schooling in different villages nearby. He did a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Botany from Raj Rishi College in Alwar itself.

Satish shares that after completing his Masters, he got selected in the Army. However, he was interested to serve in Academia hence he didn’t join the Army. However, serving in Academia required a PhD., and he had none. Therefore, he decided to join a small government job instead in the Rajasthan Forest Department.

In 1980, Satish joined the department and underwent training in Forestry. He became the topper of his batch of trainees and hence was sent to Coimbatore for Ranger Training. In 1985, he completed his ranger training and he was the topper there too.

His first posting after completing the training was as a Forest Awareness Officer in Udaipur. Working on this post, he got to explore the whole Rajasthan and understand its Flora and Fauna which aroused in him an interest to study the same further. Later he was transferred to Jaipur and then back to Jhadol in Udaipur. From 1992 till 1998, he served in Jhadol and there, in collaboration with the locals, he was able to reforest the deforested areas. And in 1996, the people of Jhadol, who had joined hands in the reforestation initiative, received an Indira Priyadarshini Vrikshamitra Award for their exemplary work. Besides, in Jhadol he also worked on Snake Conservation and conservation of other local species of reptiles who people there thought were venomous and would kill them. He raised awareness among locals as to which species of animals were venomous and which were not.

Working in the department and getting an exposure to different habitats, Satish got particularly interested in learning about Vivo birds. His first research paper on Vivo birds got published in a journal of Bombay Natural History Society. For the next many years, he wrote numerous research papers on the bird species. Continuing his exploration of Vivo birds later, he also did a PhD. on Vivo birds from Rajasthan University.

Later Satish also got to work for Phulwari ki Nal Wildlife Sanctuary in Udaipur. And the biodiversity of the sanctuary left him amazed. He did his second PhD. from MLSU, Udaipur on Plant and Animal Diversity of Phulwari Wildlife Sanctuary and Their Relation With the Tribals.

Satish likes his work so much that for him every workday is a Sunday. He urges people to devote some time to their hobbies as well, as he thinks that if managed well, 24 hours are sufficient to do everything that you want to do.

Satish’s appeal to people is to endeavor to conserve the forests, lakes and biodiversity of  Rajasthan and also endeavor to bring back the lost glory of the forests that they once basked in.