Shashank Birla is a naturalist & photojournalist. His formal background has been in the management and business domain having worked with companies such as Jumbo Electronics, Sanctuary Asia and the Seascope Group. Wishing to make a career in his field of passion, he has undertaken several short-term courses with organizations such as The Wildlife Institute of India (WII), The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), United For Nature (A joint initiative by WWF, IUCN) to improve his understanding of natural history & conservation by first participating, then undertaking coordination and leadership roles in biodiversity survey programmes, conservation initiatives & events. He trained as a naturalist with the Jungles Lodges & Resorts, Karnataka. Some of his past works have been featured in publications such as National Geographic Traveller India, Nature in Focus, Sanctuary Asia, Saevus among others. He is also a film-maker have directed short documentaries based in the Kanha Tiger Reserve, ‘Eden’s Guardians’ and ‘Messengers of the Wild’ as well as an anchor/presenter for various wildlife and conservation-based events by organizations such as Sanctuary Asia, Canon and Nature inFocus. He is also the founder of Wilderlust Expeditions LLP, an initiative to bring people closer to nature not only by sharing content to show how closely linked our lives are with the wilderness, but also to share the magic of being in the wild, and in the process, forge a lifelong connection with it.