Guwahati, Aug 28: For the first time, Kaziranga National Park in Assam will have its first woman field director, Dr. Sonali Ghosh, IFS, Chief Conservator of Forest (Research Education and Working Plan). She has been transferred and posted as the Field Director of the Kaziranga NP with effect from September 1, 2023.
Ghosh is presently working as the chief conservator of forests for research education and working plan division at the office of the principal chief conservator of forests and head of the forest force in Guwahati.
The Indian Forest Service (IAS) officer will take charge of the park from incumbent field director Jatindra Sarma, who will retire on August 31.
Ghosh will become the first woman to hold charge as director of the 118-year-old KNP.
Born into a family of Army personnel, Ghosh knew from an early age that she wished to be involved in forest and wildlife conservation.
She was a topper of the IFS batch of 2000–2003. The field director-designate is armed with a slew of degrees, including a post-graduate degree in forestry and wildlife science, a post-graduate diploma in environmental law from the National Law School of India, and another one in systems management.
She has also won a doctorate in remote-sensing technology concerning habitat suitability for tigers in the Indo-Bhutan Manas landscape.
