🍸Renowned Indian biologist and wildlife conservationist Purnima Devi has been named among the Time Magazine's Women of the Year 2025. 45-year-old Barman became the only Indian woman featured on the prestigious list with 12 other honorees. She has been featured for her work as a conservationist for saving one of the world's most endangered storks.
🃏Owing to her extraordinary contribution to the field, Barman earlier received the highest civilian award for Indian women, 'Nari Shakti Puraskar', from former President Ram Nath Kovind in 2017. In the same year, she was also awarded the Whitley Award, known as the Green Oscar, presented by Anne, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom.
Who Is Purnima Devi Barman?
𒆙Hailing from Assam's Kamrup region, Purnima Devi Barman attended Gauhati University from where she pursued Zoology and obtained her Master's degree in it with a specialization in Ecology and Wildlife Biology.
🎐While researching for her PhD in 2007, Barman saw a tree owner cut down a nest with a greater adjutant nest in 2007. Quoting the Time magazine profile on Barman, PTI reported that she remembered the day in 2007 when her life changed when she got a call that a tree that was home to a family of greater adjutant storks, was being chopped down in Assam, where she lives.
𝐆It quoted her as saying that for the first time, she felt the “importance—the call of nature. From that day, my mission started.”
✤Barman also founded the "Hargilla Army", a dedicated group of women, to turn wildlife protection into a grassroots movement while empowering local communities. After sixteen years of rigorous conservation work, today she has a team of roughly 10,000 women protecting the birds.
꧂Moreover, Barman has also worked as a Senior Wildlife Biologist at Aaranyak, leading its greater adjutant conservation project. She is also the Director of WiNN (Women in Nature Network) India and a member of the IUCN Stork, Ibis, and Spoonbill Specialist Group.
