Nishant Kumar’s research in Delhi focuses on how opportunistic scavengers like kites and macaques exploit predictable food sources in urban areas, such as garbage dumps and ritual feeding sites. This influences behaviour in both animals and humans along the urban gradient. Historically, these interactions have provided benefits, but can also lead to problems like property damage, conflicts, and disease transmission. The webinar will look at why transdisciplinary research methodologies are indispensable for understanding and managing human-animal coexistence as we design more vibrant, ​“animated” tropical cities.

Speaker profile: Nishant Kumar is faculty at Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University Delhi, and a DBT/​Wellcome Trust UK India Alliance Fellow at Oxford University’s Biology Department (overseas host), where he completed his D.Phil. His team, THINKPAWS, studies resident and migratory commensals/​wildlife in Delhi to understand human-animal interactions and zoonotic disease risks using a One Health approach. Nishant also promotes open science and innovative public engagement with science. He integrates natural and social sciences with humanities to address global challenges, fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration for human-animal coexistence.