Rajeev Raghavan

After completing undergraduate and graduate degrees in Aquaculture and a PhD in Fish Ecology, Rajeev received postdoctoral training and worked in various Universities and institutions in Asia and Europe. Prior to his current appointment with the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS), Kochi, India, Rajeev also worked as a Lecturer at St. Albert's College, Kochi, India (where he set up the Conservation Research Group, a multidisciplinary network of conservation biologist working on various aspects of the biodiversity of the Western Ghats) and also held affiliate positions at the Zoo Outreach Organisation (ZOO), Coimbatore, India.[3]

Since 2003, Rajeev has been involved in interdisciplinary research that generates information to support conservation decision making in tropical aquatic ecosystems particularly in the Western Ghats Biodiversity Hotspot. His work cuts across multiple disciplines from taxonomy[4][5] to evolutionary biogeography,[6] fisheries management and conservation policies, and range from local to global scales.[7][8]

His research has resulted in the discovery and description of twelve new species, three new genera and a unique new family of freshwater fish and shrimp from the rivers of the Western Ghats; contributed to the assessment of the extinction risk of over 100 species of South Asian freshwater fishes for the IUCN Red List, and helped generate the first information on the biology and population status of several endemic fish species of the Western Ghats. As of May 2019, Rajeev has published over 140 peer-reviewed papers (with >1300 citations)[9] in some of the world’s top journals in fisheries and conservation science including Fish and Fisheries,[10] Biological Conservation,[11][12] Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems;[13][14][15][16] Marine Policy[17] and Ambio.[18][19]

Rajeev is closely involved with the work of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (IUCN SSC) holding multiple responsibilities in its various groups. He is currently the South Asia Coordinator of the Freshwater Fish Specialist Group (FFSG); Freshwater Fish Red List Authority Coordinator for the regions of Southern, Northern and Eastern Asia and Oceania; and the Steering Committee member of the Freshwater Fish Specialist Group (FFSG). In addition he is also a member of the Species Survival Commission/World Commission on Protected Areas (SSC/WCPA) Joint Task Force on Biodiversity and Protected Areas; the WCPA Freshwater Specialist Group and the IUCN Conservation Planning Specialist Group.[20][21]

Rajeev’s expertise has been used by various international organizations including the World Bank and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)[22] while he currently works in honorary capacity as the Head of Science and Knowledge (India) for the Mahseer Trust,[23][24] an international conservation NGO based in the UK.