Nishant Jain is a conservation professional with about 11.5 years of overall work experience. He is currently with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as a Senior Program Officer based in New Delhi. He works on multi-disciplinary issues that revolve around ecosystem resilience, biodiversity conservation, dynamics of social welfare, and inclusive growth.
He spent seven years with Sambodhi and TERI, before joining IUCN two years back. He started his career with Infosys, where he worked for more than 2.5 years.
Nishant is driven by the passion to address pressing environmental and developmental challenges. He aims to bring tangible difference in advancing sustainable practices and enhancing resilience by engaging relevant stakeholders, undertaking strategic and impactful initiatives, and sharing knowledge.
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Q. How has been your journey from IIFM to this role?
A. I began my career in the Information Technology industry, where I worked with Infosys. Leaving the IT industry for the environment sector was a fairly informed decision for me but hardly fathomable to many at the time. Nevertheless, my journey since IIFM has been immensely rewarding.
After graduating from IIFM, I joined TERI. I worked there for four years, first as a Research Associate and then as an Associate Fellow. I focused on multidisciplinary themes, including green growth, biodiversity conservation, forests and communities, and energy efficiency. Every project was unique in its own sense, and brought opportunities to learn something new, enabling me to expand my horizon. Following a fulfilling experience with TERI, I moved to Sambodhi.
I managed monitoring and evaluation mandates at Sambodhi, working primarily on livelihoods, agriculture and education and skilling to some extent. Sambodhi offered much more hands-on exposure to designing and supervising large-scale surveys, analyzing data, and presenting the findings crisply. We gradually expanded to strategizing and consulting for a few clients. My three-year stint with Sambodhi was an enriching experience amidst a positive work culture.
I joined IUCN a couple of years back, which was a dream come true moment. As an international organization and a Union of CSOs and government, IUCN‘s structure is quite different from those I had previously worked with. We have a very small team of about 12 technical experts in the India office. I am leading and managing projects under the Forest Landscape Restoration theme. We are also now spreading our presence in sustainable agriculture domain.
In the last more than a decade of my professional career, I have now worked on multidisciplinary themes across a corporate, a non-profit organization, a for-profit organization and an international agency. This diverse experience has helped broaden my worldview without losing sight of the passion to make positive impact on the planet and its people, which brought me to this sector in the first place.
Q. What were some of the key milestones/learning in this journey that you would like to share with us?
A. 1. IIFM in itself was a milestone for me. Getting exposed to a range of courses, organizing numerous activities and events, group studies before exams, walks around the campus, one of the best monsoons (if you ignore a few reptiles and insects here and there), were a treat at IIFM. Receiving the Director’s medal for best Summer Internship and the Chairman’s Gold Medal were gratifying acknowledgements of my efforts during the incredible journey.
2. On professional front, I consider each movement from one organization to the other as a milestone. In every organization I worked for, I tried to put in my best efforts and in turn gained invaluable experience. However, at both TERI and Sambodhi, I had developed a strong association, which made the decision to move on challenging. Thus, those transitions are significant milestones for me, and in all cases, accompanied with cherished memories.
3. On the personal front, marriage has been an important milestone. I got married 5 years back and since then, my better half, Anuja, has been the pillar of support and constant source of motivation for me.
Q. What is the most satisfying part of your current role?
A. Working with IUCN gives me a chance to engage with a wide range of stakeholders (nationally and internationally) through which we are able to drive meaningful change on the ground. Given IUCN’s limited physical presence in India, I also have the opportunity to provide strategic inputs in expanding its footprint across the country.
Q. Has your learning at IIFM helped in shaping how you approach your professional roles?
A. The foundation established at IIFM and the things we learnt continue to shape my professional career even today. Being a project manager, I need to have a comprehensive understanding of all aspects of the environment and development sector, and IIFM had exposed us to it. I usually only have to top it up with the latest developments. In hindsight, IIFM taught us a lot more than we may think/care to admit: time management, outreach, leadership, team building, conflict management, and much more.
Q. Who (or what) are the biggest influences or drivers in your careers. What would be your advice to freshers and IIFM graduates who are looking to choose similar sectors/roles?
A. My family first, who were supportive of my switch from IT to the Environment sector. Prof CSR was a gem of a mentor professor and I truly admire his skills and grit. I would gladly pay to be mentored by him again.
My advice to IIFM grads looking to choose similar sectors/roles would be to adopt a bottoms-up approach. I wouldn’t recommended starting your career with a large organization (like IUCN/UN). If you have the opportunity and the risk appetite, begin your career with a grassroots organization. The experience will make you much more successful when you move up the ladder.
Q. What are your favorite memories during your IIFM days?
A. There are many. Those gully cricket matches (still proud of our winning team ‘Shehanshah’); some of the movie nights (particularly the 6-hour Batman marathon in the auditorium); organizing and partaking with equal enthusiasm in Guts and Glory (the adventure club event); going to ‘Picnik’ for Veg Kothe and ‘Asha’ for snacks were always fun!
One particularly memorable moment was that one mini football game we played during torrential rains at the back side of the Nilgiri Hostel. We stopped the outflow of water from the premises by plugging the outlets, creating a large pool of water. Then 5-6 of us played a little game of football in that pool while it was still raining cats and dogs.
Q. In hindsight, what was the biggest contribution or take away from IIFM that you think played a critical role in shaping you as an individual or professional?
A. The variety of courses we studied at IIFM have been really helpful. They still are to be honest. The field trips and the summer internship were instrumental in broadening my mind. We were also fortunate to have highly qualified and approachable professors.
We had a diverse batch in terms of past experiences and backgrounds, and there was something to learn from everyone. I especially cherished the company of Gaurav, Utkarsh, and Bilal who were as much the inhabitants of Room no. 15 as Praveen (my roommate) and I were. We still have a WhatsApp group, called ‘Room No. 15’.
I also take pride in being part of the extensive Alumni network that is now more connected than ever. And the best part is that we are always ready to help each other.
Q. The best friends / seniors /faculty at IIFM? Some memorable tidbits that you like to share.
A. I already mentioned some of the closest buddies above. Arshi (who recently made everyone proud by gaining admission to Harvard), Dinesh (who cooked amazingly well), and Shashi (the then Nature club coordinator) are dear friends that I am still well connected with.
I can’t forget Shashank Deora’s (Senior batch, but a peer from Bachelor’s) contribution in guiding me to IIFM. He patiently answered all my queries that helped me make up my mind to join IIFM.
Professors CSR, AK Dharni, Omprakash Madguni, Advait, and Yogesh Dubey, were outstanding in their respective fields and imparting learning. I try to remain connected with most of them.
Q. As an alumnus, what is your advice to freshers or those are joining IIFM to get best out of the 2 years there?
A. IIFM is a management institute and provides plenty of opportunities for personal and professional growth. Immerse yourself and build your personality. Imbibe ethics, enhance interpersonal skills, learn people management, foster self-awareness, and the list goes on. You will eventually have to get there anyways.
Also, the aim of study should not merely be for the sake of getting good marks, but one should also be able to internalize the knowledge and skills. Approach the 21 months with a purpose, ensuring that you are making all the possible efforts along the way.
Q. What is your typical day at the office?
A. I have to manage a variety of core and non-core tasks throughout the day. So, I start my day with preparing the list of all tasks to be done. Then I check emails for immediate things to be performed. I get over with smaller yet critical tasks first. Then I move to the larger, time-intensive tasks that require deeper thinking and maybe extended period to complete, e.g. literature reviews, developing project reports, drafting concept notes, and so on). Between all this, there are several meetings, mentoring colleagues, reviewing reports, that takes up time. I usually make sure to not end the day with unfinished tasks. On an average, 2-3 days in a month involve field travel.
Q. And how about weekends, Hobbies, Family and anything else you want to add
A. I enjoy spending time with my wife on the weekends. We run errands, explore new places, host friends/family, collaborate on house chores, and plan for random things (a vacation/ buying something for home/ long drive/ etc. but not particularly meant to be materialized 😊). During the rare spare time, I prefer to read books, solve puzzles, and connect with family and friends. I used to be an avid photographer, but hardly find any bandwidth to pursue it further.
Q. Favorite Books, movies, authors.
A. I can read anything that helps build my knowledge and pique my brain, both non-fiction and fiction. Preferred genres are history (currently reading ‘The Last Nizam‘, and in queue is ‘Rashmirathi‘) and mythological fiction (loved reading ‘Asura‘). Harry Potter series is my go-to movie for relieving stress. I also enjoy animation and adventure movies.
Q. IIFM is driven by alumni’s passion and commitments towards its goal. How would you like to contribute to IIFM or IIFM alumni, students?
A. I am usually only a phone call away from listening/guiding alumni in any which way. We, at IUCN, offered an internship this time and should be able to provide more in the coming time. We also floated a few job offers but very few actively applied. We are also identifying opportunities to collaborate with IIFM at an institutional level.
Q. What do you think is different at IIFM now vs when you studied there? What do you think is a positive change and what is not?
A. Unfortunately, I haven’t had the opportunity to visit IIFM since graduating. So, I have little first-hand information. But I hear the infrastructure has improved further. On the outside, the alumni base and the bond are definitely growing.
Competition for IIFM has grown and we have many players in the ‘niche’ where IIFM is positioned. Despite this, it’s positive to see alumni representation across various organizations in different sectors. However, IIFM’s visibility is still low. This needs to be improved.
Q. Any suggestions on who you want to get profiled/interviewed here?
A. I am sure Shashank Deora (PFM 14) has some fascinating stories to share. Have we heard from Swapnil Shekhar yet? He could recount his journey of setting up Sambodhi after IIFM.