From Soup to Superstar:The Story of Sea Turtle Conservation along the Indian Coast

'Can science inform conservation?' asked Kartik Shanker. Seven first year Ph D students (year 2007) at Centre of Ecological Sciences (CES) were dumbfounded. This question probably never crossed the minds of these naive aspiring ecologists, some of whom were infatuated with their study system and zealous about its conservation. I was one of the bemused students and I have been pondering this question ever since. Is mere common sense sufficient to craft long term conservation strategies? Or is there relevant scientific knowledge to envision viable conservation programmes, but we are limited in our creativity to harness the full power of this knowledge?.