Kalyan Varma
Encyclopedia
Kalyan Varma is an award-winning wildlife photographer
and film-maker from Bangalore
, India
. He currently freelances with the BBC Natural History
and National Geographic Channel (India)
, and also works with grassroots NGO's to highlight environmental issues in India. An active evangelist of Free Software
and Creative Commons
, he is also an expert on Application security and cryptography.
. While in college he trained at Exocore Consulting, and then joined Yahoo, where he worked as an application security engineer. He took care of the security needs of Yahoo Asia. He won the Yahoo super star award in 2003, given only to the best few employees in the company. In 2004, he left Yahoo to pursue his interest in wildlife and photography and discovered a love for nature and conservation
.
and Icon Films as their Natural History camera man. He has been involved with many landmark BBC Natural World programs. He is actively involved with many wildlife NGOs and conservation bodies in India, such as the Nature Conservation Foundation
and VGKK. He is a founding member of India Nature Watch
.
Kalyan is also a BBC Earth Explorer.
He has been featured in the best seller book 'Connect the dots' as one of the top non-MBA entrepreneurs in India.
and open source
community in India, and applies his knowledge of FOSS
to bring technology benefits to wildlife conservation projects. In 2008, he was invited to deliver the closing keynote at FOSS.IN
in 2008.
He regularly shares his knowledge of photography through lectures and workshops on digital photography and wildlife photography
.
Wildlife Photographer of the Year award in 2005 and also other BBC photography awards.
Wildlife photography
Wildlife photography is the act of taking photographs of wildlife.Wildlife photography is regarded as one of the more challenging forms of photography. As well as needing sound technical skills, such as being able to expose correctly, wildlife photographers generally need good field craft skills...
and film-maker from Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. He currently freelances with the BBC Natural History
BBC Natural History Unit
The BBC Natural History Unit is a department of the BBC dedicated to making television and radio programmes with a natural history or wildlife theme, especially nature documentaries...
and National Geographic Channel (India)
National Geographic Channel
National Geographic Channel, also commercially abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo, is a subscription television channel that airs non-fiction television programs produced by the National Geographic Society. Like History and the Discovery Channel, the channel features documentaries with factual...
, and also works with grassroots NGO's to highlight environmental issues in India. An active evangelist of Free Software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
and Creative Commons
Creative Commons
Creative Commons is a non-profit organization headquartered in Mountain View, California, United States devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has released several copyright-licenses known as Creative Commons...
, he is also an expert on Application security and cryptography.
Early career
He completed his degree in Mechanical Engineering from the PES Institute of TechnologyPeople's Education Society Institute of Technology
People's Education Society Institute of Technology is a private co-educational engineering college located in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. It was established in 1988 and is affiliated to Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgaum...
. While in college he trained at Exocore Consulting, and then joined Yahoo, where he worked as an application security engineer. He took care of the security needs of Yahoo Asia. He won the Yahoo super star award in 2003, given only to the best few employees in the company. In 2004, he left Yahoo to pursue his interest in wildlife and photography and discovered a love for nature and conservation
Wildlife conservation
Wildlife conservation is the preservation, protection, or restoration of wildlife and their environment, especially in relation to endangered and vulnerable species. All living non-domesticated animals, even if bred, hatched or born in captivity, are considered wild animals. Wildlife represents all...
.
Current work
Kalyan works on projects for the BBC Natural HistoryBBC Natural History Unit
The BBC Natural History Unit is a department of the BBC dedicated to making television and radio programmes with a natural history or wildlife theme, especially nature documentaries...
and Icon Films as their Natural History camera man. He has been involved with many landmark BBC Natural World programs. He is actively involved with many wildlife NGOs and conservation bodies in India, such as the Nature Conservation Foundation
Nature Conservation Foundation
The Nature Conservation Foundation is a non-governmental wildlife conservation and research organization based in Mysore, India. They promote the use of science for wildlife conservation in India.-History:The organization was founded in 1996...
and VGKK. He is a founding member of India Nature Watch
India Nature Watch
India Nature Watch, usually referred to as INW is a non-commercial community website that focuses on sharing photographs of Indian wildlife. The site was started in 2005 and currently hosts more than 4 members...
.
Kalyan is also a BBC Earth Explorer.
He has been featured in the best seller book 'Connect the dots' as one of the top non-MBA entrepreneurs in India.
Free and open source software
Kalyan is active in the linuxLinux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
and open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
community in India, and applies his knowledge of FOSS
Foss
Foss may refer toPeople*Foss , people with the last name Foss*Foss Shanahan , New Zealand diplomat*Foss Westcott , English bishop...
to bring technology benefits to wildlife conservation projects. In 2008, he was invited to deliver the closing keynote at FOSS.IN
FOSS.IN
FOSS.IN is a Free and Open Source Software conference, held in India. It is the successor of the FOSS conferences known as Linux Bangalore , and is one of the largest annual FOSS events in Asia...
in 2008.
He regularly shares his knowledge of photography through lectures and workshops on digital photography and wildlife photography
Wildlife photography
Wildlife photography is the act of taking photographs of wildlife.Wildlife photography is regarded as one of the more challenging forms of photography. As well as needing sound technical skills, such as being able to expose correctly, wildlife photographers generally need good field craft skills...
.
Awards
He won the SanctuarySanctuary Asia
Sanctuary Asia is one of India's first and one of its leading environmental news magazines, being published in a bimonthly cycle. It was founded in 1981 by the conservationist Bittu Sahgal as Sanctuary. It became a syndicated publication under the banner of Sanctuary Features. Presently, the...
Wildlife Photographer of the Year award in 2005 and also other BBC photography awards.
External links
- http://kalyanvarma.net/
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/expeditions/stories/published/by/kalyanvarma
- http://www.kolkatabirds.com/photo/kalyanprofile.htm