August 28, 1985 – April 22, 2023
By Nandini Mehrotra
“Development is good, and technology amplifies development. Abandoning all technology and returning to a mythical ‘Golden Past’ is neither practicable, nor an equitable solution. It will only benefit those who are able to bear the costs of doing so, and further divides humanity along the lines of privilege. If all our tools are double-edged swords, how do we avoid harming ourselves when we use them? I believe the solution is to sharpen the edge we wish to use, and to dull the one that can cut us. We need to use technology with the clear intention of shaping our collective future for the better. It is essential that this is accompanied by an understanding that the world will change as a result of our actions. The mindless and inappropriate use of technology, as of anything else, is unnecessarily harmful.”
– Shashank Srinivasan, late founder of Technology for Wildlife
My first memory of Shashank is from at a tea stall near the WWF India office in New Delhi. He was holding up a puppy and talking to it, and he looked like the Big Friendly Giant in front of it. Shashank Srinivasan was a GIS coordinator and I was in a different team on my first job on the same floor. Our projects did not overlap but he took the time and effort to show me kindness – so that I could learn on the job and find a community. It was an active choice, one that he always made, for me, and seemingly for everyone who crossed paths with him.
In 2017, Shashank completed the Kinship Fellowship and set up Technology for Wildlife. A year later, when he was looking for his first employee, it was an easy leap of faith for me. This was because Shashank approached work as well as life with curiosity and conviction. He created the work and the world that he wanted. He wanted technology to be used for conservation rather than extraction; as a tool that could be used by communities rather than to monitor them. He wanted to explore technology, especially using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for wildlife conservation. So, Shashank created an organisation to enable him to explore technology. It was a unique niche – firmly backed by technical knowledge but grounded in the realities of its potential consequences. He worked in high altitudes, in mangroves, on coastlines, on rivers and in tropical forests. He was driven by the impact his work could create, which showed in the projects he conceptualised and saw to fruition – exploring high altitude wetlands aerially and underwater; using UAVs to study olive ridley nesting; or using technology to aid restoration efforts. The list goes on.
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Shashank Srinivasan was driven by the impact his work could create, which showed in the projects he conceptualised and saw to fruition – exploring high altitude wetlands aerially and underwater; using unmanned aerial vehicles to study olive ridley nesting; or using technology to aid restoration efforts. Photo Courtesy: Technology for Wildlife.
Shashank’s attitude allowed for us to be audacious about the projects we wanted to do too, and he actively created space for it. When I wanted to do a project on river dolphins or on the ethics of drone use, we worked together to create opportunities to make these happen. His approach was one of possibilities – if he believed in the impact, he would find a way to do it.
But this attitude extended beyond projects. What was the kind of workspace we wanted to create? What was the kind of life we wanted to live? There was a ‘no questions asked’ policy for taking leave for mental or menstrual health. We had our meetings while eating ice cream. We planned our work tasks alongside other components of our life, trying as far as possible to manage our time in a way that allowed us to work but also pursue our hobbies and other passions. His personal favourite policy was to institute breaks at sunset.
Initially, it felt like a make-believe job. Could you really work for what you believe in, with people you like and still have a life outside that you cherish? But we were getting so much done; something was clearly working. It was a culmination of these seemingly small things, but also the overarching knowledge that we were always prioritised as people. Shashank made it known that we were more important than the tasks we had to complete. This meant that sometimes we didn’t meet an internal deadline. But it also meant that we had motivation to come back and finish it well when we had the capacity. That’s what has kept all of us at Technology for Wildlife running.
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Shashank Srinivasan was driven by the impact his work could create, which showed in the projects he conceptualised and saw to fruition – exploring high altitude wetlands aerially and underwater; using unmanned aerial vehicles to study olive ridley nesting; or using technology to aid restoration efforts. Photo Courtesy: Technology for Wildlife.
Shashank embraced all of life with this warm openness. A colleague commented on how he greeted everyone the same way, and this list included (but was not limited to) people, dogs, squirrels, caterpillars, moths, centipedes… cats, however, had special treatment. This made his life rich and diverse – from making maps to reading science fiction; from teaching himself to code to afternoons of woodworking; and from kite flying to finding ways to make GST fun. Our projects reflect this openness and range – from cartography to underwater footage; restoration projects to boardgames on elephant corridors; and from 3D models of mangroves to workshops on using open-source software for spatial analysis. If it was impactful and motivating, he found a way to fit it within the ambit of our work. Shashank used to say that one of the reasons we work so well together is that he likes starting projects and I like finishing them.
While I cannot possibly achieve what Shashank would have with his vision (especially without my mentor, most consistent colleague and favourite work friend), I’m taking solace in the realisation that I could, through him, see how much is possible if we have the courage to create the world and life we believe in.
Nandini Mehrotra is Programme Manager at Technology for Wildlife Foundation, based in Goa.
