Seema Bhatt is an independent consultant based in India and works on issues related to ecotourism, biodiversity and climate change. She holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Studies from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Her particular focus of work is on strengthening the links between conservation of biodiversity and livelihoods of local communities. She views ecotourism as one such link and has coordinated two projects on ecotourism as the South Asia Coordinator for the USAID supported Biodiversity Conservation Network. She has since then worked extensively with various other ecotourism projects in India and other parts of South Asia. She has co-authored a book, Ecotourism Development in India, published by the Cambridge University Press. She is a Fulbright research scholar and was based at the Center for Responsible Travel (CREST) in Washington DC where she explored the feasibility of ecotourism certification in India. Seema is also at present the honorary vice president of the Ecotourism Society of India.