Dr Tarsh Thekaekarais a conservation-researcher based in the Nilgiri Hills of South India. His work focuses on elephant behaviour, individual personalities, the human-elephant relationship, and Indigenous approaches to managing invasive species such as Lantana camara. This work underpins the creation of the Lantana elephant herds handcrafted by Indigenous artists of The Real Elephant Collective, of which Tarsh is a founding member.

Tarsh holds a PhD on Human-Elephant Coexistence from The Open University, an MSc from Oxford, is a trustee of The Shola Trust, Founder-Director of WildCarbon, and Associate Professor at the Coexistence Studies Group at TransDisciplinary University.