Shailaja Deshpande

Shailaja Deshpande is the founder and director of Jeevitnadi-Living River Foundation, an organisation working towards the revival and ecological restoration of rivers in Pune. She has trained extensively in environmental conservation, with diplomas in sustainable management of natural resources and nature conservation, field botany, advanced field botany, and groundwater and watershed management. She has also worked on research examining the impacts of urbanisation on river catchment areas. Since 2014, she has led Jeevitnadi’s efforts to raise public awareness, encourage community participation, address pollution through sustainable lifestyles, and develop scientific and ecological approaches for river revival. Her work has received several awards and recognitions.