Ranjan K Panda, a Master in Sociology, has nearly three decades of experience in leading several water and environmental initiatives in India. A known water and climate expert of India, he convenes many advocacy networks and writes for various publications. He has been delivering lectures in seminars, workshops and universities all across the globe, and leading several campaigns for conservation of rivers, water bodies and forests. His areas of interests have been water, environment, climate change/ justice issues in both rural and urban areas. He is a strong advocate of community centric governance of natural resources for sustainable development. In 2010, he was awarded with the first “Green Hero” by NDTV which was given away by the President of India. He has been recognised as Mahanadi River Waterkeeper by the New York based global ‘Waterkeeper Alliance’.