Leadership & Conservation Experts
Read the full biographies of our dedicated managing trustees and directors.
Shyamanta Ram Phookun
Managing Trustee of Elephant Monitors Assam is Shyamanta Ram Phookun. Coming from the lineage of renowned freedom fighter of Assam and elephant expert, Tarun Ram Phookun, Shyamanta has literally grown up in the company of elephants and is a living encyclopedia on all things elephants. An Assam government recognized human-animal conflict management expert, he has been rescuing reptiles as well as big cats since his school days.
Shaheen Ahmed
Founder and Director of Elephant Monitors Assam is Shaheen Ahmed. An academic and researcher by profession and training, she is also a cinema and arts aficionado and a writer. Her writings have been published in national and international media and journals. She is a recipient of the Zubaan-Sasakawa Peace Foundation Grant for Young Researchers of the Northeast and the ICSSR Travel Grant for young scholars. She loves animals and has rescued many community dogs and cats along with feeding them in her locality. Her concern about the depleting natural resources in her home state and the rising human-elephant conflict led her to establish Elephant Monitors Assam.
Faruk Ali
Trustee of Elephant Monitors Assam, Faruk Ali. He has been associated with wildlife rescue and rehabilitation in Digboi since the last two decades. He has rescued and rehabilitated elephants, leopards, slow lorises and various types of reptiles.
Bedanta Gogoi
Trustee of Elephant Monitors Assam, Bedanta Gogoi. At just 25 years, Gogoi is the youngest trustee of the organization. He has been actively involved in wildlife rescue and conservation since he was 20. His interest in wildlife and environmental conservation started during his undergraduate years, which gradually led him towards wildlife rescue and protection. He has been involved in rescuing snakes and mitigating human-elephant conflict in Golaghat District, with a focus on ensuring safety and coexistence. He remains committed to protecting wildlife and contributing to conservation efforts.
Samiran Xopun
Trustee of Elephant Monitors Assam, Samiran Xopun. Not only has he been doing environment conservation work since the last five years when he was in his early 20s, he is also a young writer recognized by the Government of Assam.