Important notice
The upcoming symposium will be rescheduled to a later date due to current international instability and ongoing conflicts affecting travel and global logistics. We sincerely regret any inconvenience this may cause. As soon as updates are available and a new date has been confirmed this information will be updated accordingly.
We are honoured to welcome an exceptional group of speakers from multiple countries, bringing together diverse expertise in herpetology, conservation, education, and animal welfare. Among them are internationally recognised scientists, conservation leaders, authors, and practitioners dedicated to the study and protection of reptiles and amphibians. Their broad experience and perspectives ensure a high-quality programme that will both inspire and inform participants.
He is the founder-director of Kalinga Foundation in Agumbe and has studied king cobras for nearly two decades. A pioneer in radio telemetry research, he earned his PhD in India and studied in Sweden. A 2020 TED Fellow, he has been featured in major wildlife documentaries and awarded ‘Herpetologist of the Year 2015.’ His work has identified four distinct king cobra species, and he actively promotes wildlife conservation through social media.
Dr. Wolfgang Wüster, Assistant Professor at the University of Bangor, UK, is a leading expert on venomous snakes, specializing in their systematics and toxinology. He focuses on medically important snakes such as cobras, kraits, king cobras, and vipers, emphasizing taxonomic clarity to help address the global human snakebite crisis. He has authored nearly 200 scientific publications.
Joe has worked with reptiles since the 1970s, including under William Haast at the Miami Serpentarium. He serves on IUCN specialist groups, leads an environmental consulting firm, and has appeared on major media outlets. His global conservation work focuses on biodiversity, sustainability, and local community involvement.
Dr. Kartik Shanker is a professor at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, studying the ecology of amphibians, reptiles, birds, and marine life. He leads sea turtle and shark monitoring programs, co-founded Dakshin Foundation and Current Conservation, and authored From Soup to Superstar and several children's books.
Benjamin Marshall studies animal movement, with a focus on Southeast Asian snakes. Their work now includes wildlife trade and ungulate movement, while herpetofauna remains a core interest. They also co-produce the Herpetological Highlights podcast.
Dr. Manjunatha Kini is Emeritus Professor at the National University of Singapore, specializing in venom and saliva research related to blood clotting. He has supervised over 70 researchers, published 300+ papers, and founded two biotech companies.
Priyanka Kadam is the founder of the Snakebite Healing & Education Society (SHE-India), a national organization dedicated to preventing and controlling snakebites in India. An expert in snakebite prevention, she has worked with WHO, NCDC, ICMR and other national health bodies, and co-drafted India’s National Action Plan for Snakebite Envenoming (NAPSE). She also produced the award-winning advocacy film The Dead Don’t Talk and has developed multilingual community awareness materials and digital tools such as the Snakebite Assistant App.
Rogier van Rossem is a reptile and amphibian specialist, entrepreneur, and conservationist. Owner of De Kameleon, he founded the Herpetofauna foundation in 2008, a conservation and education foundation active in 23 countries. He serves on international advisory boards including Save The Snakes and the King Cobra Conservancy, lectures widely on animal welfare and herpetology, and is author of Het Grote Terrarium Handboek and several children’s books on conservation.
Ashok Captain is a renowned snake expert specializing in the traditional taxonomy of Indian snakes. He is affiliated with institutions such as the Bombay Natural History Society, Indian Herpetological Society, Indian Institute of Science, Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, and the Natural History Museum, London. He has taught at DST-sponsored Schools of Herpetology and co-authored Snakes of India: The Field Guide and Asian Pitvipers. He has published papers on new species, taxonomic revisions, and first records of snakes in India. Two species—Captain’s wood snake and Ashok’s bronzeback—have been named in his honor.
Bryan Maritz is a South African researcher and educator specializing in African snake ecology. His work, alongside graduate students, explores snake biology through feeding, spatial, and community ecology, with a focus on human-wildlife conflict.
He is the Director of Research at Kalinga Foundation with a PhD in Wildlife Biology from the University of Madras. With nearly 25 years of experience and 140+ publications—including 25 new species—his work focuses on systematic herpetology, species mapping, and conservation. An IUCN member, he also contributes to protected area declarations and serves on editorial boards of 20+ scientific journals.
Dr. H.T. Lalremsanga is Professor and Head of Zoology at Mizoram University, specializing in Developmental Biology, Herpetology, and Taxonomy. He has published over 230 papers, 23 books/chapters, presented 30 papers, and delivered 76 invited lectures. A member of several IUCN and herpetology groups, he has supervised 6 PhD and 2 M.Phil scholars, described 40+ new species, and authored a book on Mizoram snakes. He received the Special Science Award 2023 and supports snakebite patients with antivenom.
Jignasu Dolia is a herpetologist who has been studying King Cobras in northern India for over 16 years. A Ph.D. scholar at the Wildlife Institute of India, he focuses on the species’ distribution and nesting ecology. Since beginning his work in the Western Himalayan foothills in 2009, he has monitored 50 king cobra nests in the Shivalik ranges of Uttarakhand. Alongside his research, he works on snake awareness and conservation, providing training to frontline forest staff and engaging local communities to reduce fear and conflict. His work has been supported by competitive grants, published in peer-reviewed journals, and presented internationally. He is currently a member of the IUCN Snake Specialist Group.
Dr. Freston Marc Sirur, MD is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Kasturba Medical College, MAHE, specializing in wilderness medicine, envenomation, toxicology, pre-hospital care, and trauma. He combines clinical practice with teaching and training of medical students, EMTs, and first responders. Founder of the Centre for Wilderness Medicine, he is actively involved in rural healthcare and research on snakebite envenomation, antivenom efficacy, and treatment protocols.
I'm an engineer with a proclivity for biology. I mostly work with reptiles, but sometimes use amphibians — and, in particularly desperate times, even birds — to test hypotheses in evolutionary biology and biogeography. For the time being, I'm interested in understanding how complex landscapes influence the formation and maintenance of species. I also dabble in systematics, macroecology, and macroevolution.