Sarala is a trained ecologist and interdisciplinary researcher from Darjeeling, India. She has over 15 years of experience in managing projects focused on enhancing sustainable livelihoods, biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services at the landscape-level. She holds a doctorate in Wildlife Ecology from North Bengal University. Her major interests include investigating the drivers of change in human-modified landscapes that impact biodiversity, ecosystems and ecosystem services, especially in the mountains and hills of northeast India and North Bengal. She is currently working on issues of food sovereignty, sustainable food systems and the water-energy-food nexus.