Data Ecologist Interview

Nature produces enormous amounts of data—from satellite images, climate records, acoustic sensors, and species observations, which we need to decipher using data science, spatial analysis (GIS) and ecological modelling to understand patterns in ecosystems.

Abhimanyu Chandel, our next pathbreaker, Data Ecologist with QCIF Digital Research (Brisbane), works on the mission to help researchers and organizations use advanced computing and digital tools to solve complex real‑world problems from climate science to biodiversity conservation.

Abhimanyu talks to Shyam Krishnamurthy from The Interview Portal about the significance of data ecology in reading what is beyond human capability for better monitoring, sensing, and understanding of the natural world.

For students, amidst societal questions and concerns, most of us have our own battles to fight ! Stay close to what you love most; everything else will fall under it.

Abhimanyu, your background? 🏡

Hey folks, my name is Abhimanyu Raj S Chandel. I was born in a small town in Panna, Madhya Pradesh and grew up around nearby cities like Satna and Rewa. My father had a job that required moving, so we were always packing up and ready to go. For high school, I moved to Bhopal, the capital city of Madhya Pradesh. My childhood was nourished by Budeli and Baghel culture, and my adolescence was nurtured with the freedom of Bhopal.

I was always a visual learner 👀, enjoying practical lessons, labs, outdoors 🌳, and trips. But school learning was challenging: remembering everything 📚, doing calculations ➕➖, and reading in a straight line was stressful before exams. I always loved learning but never understood the concept of exams and competition. There is so much for everyone to do.

It was clear to me that I wanted to go for science 🔬, although the school administration thought it was nearly impossible. Fortunately, my biology teacher supported me during this movement, when I had to convince the school that it would be science or no study, hahaha. This taught me that nothing is wrong with me, and I must fight for what I choose 💪.

Apart from studies, I loved art 🎨 and sports ⚽ classes. My parents are both PhDs 🎓 in social and political science, and my family, along with other PhDs, also includes a neurologist uncle 🧠. I had some support directly, but most of it was indirect, because you land on what you seek.

From early on, I identified the things I loved as an individual:

• Physical activities and outdoors 🏃‍♂️🌿
• Love for nature 🌳🐦
• Curiosity to discover something new 🔍
• Observation and awareness 👁️
• Practical learning 🛠️
• Connecting with new people and cultures beyond national boundaries
• Leave it better than found principle 🌱

What did you do for graduation and Post-Graduation 🎓

I did BSc Zoology from IGNOU (Delhi/Bhopal). My understanding grew outward rather than inward. I understood early that national park boundaries alone cannot help animals when the climate is changing. I started focusing on animal habitats and understanding plant communities involved, the food web, interactions between species, and interactions with their environment and stresses. There were very few people involved and very few studies published at the ecosystem scale. This pushed me to do an MS in Environmental Protection and Climate Change Adaptation. During this time, I explored subjects and activities I loved most: nature 🌿, observation 👀, meeting new people, and practical learning 🛠️.

What Made Me Choose This Career 🌎

Key influencers:

• Gaps:
  • Research, policies, and solutions often do not reach the people who need them most or the places where the problem is happening first-hand. We already have solutions for many of the problems we face today; it is a matter of connecting the dots.
  • Biodiversity is declining, and nobody is sensing or understanding the depth of the issue we are facing.
  • Pollution, climate change, habitat loss, illegal trade, and deforestation are outcomes of certain needs and can be seen as secondary problems. (Ask me what the primary problem is whenever we meet 🙂)
• Travel ✈️ – seeing different landscapes, animals 🐘, and ecosystems.
• People/Mentors 👩‍🏫 – finding new teachers and guides who continue to inspire me.
• Events 🦋 – migratory birds navigating and visiting, conflicts like tigers in urban areas or forest–village balance, vultures losing habitats, lantana covering local species, Monarch Butterfly Migration, etc.
• Turning points 💡 – realizing science can protect ecosystems and influence policy.

How did you plan your career path 🛤️

I worked with a NGO Samavesh and local organisations while I was studying my BS, which I came across during a long time volunteering with WWF-MPCG. This helped me build a good network and host and participate in numerous events. We were hosting events and inviting more volunteers. One of the volunteers was an employee of Samavesh, and our conversations revealed the type of work and funding information. I started writing environmental and ecological articles for building teaching resources for primary and secondary schools and started working casually on a project basis as an Environmental Science Specialist. It involved reading current research and building educational content to give students exposure and experience that schools cannot provide. While doing this, I was also applying for other jobs as this was not on a regular basis. I was almost ready to take a job as a Zoological researcher in Bangalore, but the salary was very low for surviving in a big city. This made me think it through and apply overseas to study further. At that time, I felt I would need more international study and networking to gain experience and skills, as I knew ecology had career opportunities overseas but not much in India in 2017. My plan was quite clear to proceed, act, and trust my research.

I got 10 + 15% scholarships for my background and extracurricular certificates at Griffith University. I also received some rejections due to unexplained gaps (when I was fighting for the year-wise mark sheet). But I was glad in the end with what I got and where I got it. Brisbane was just phenomenal for students or anyone seeing Australia first-hand. It is a welcoming and sharing community with people from diverse backgrounds, and everyone supports each other. As Bhopal gave me freedom of thought, Brisbane helped bring my personality out in colours from a single-tone lifestyle. It was not easy at the start, but now I will say it was worth every bit.

While studying, I was doing some odd jobs, but due to COVID, a lot changed and I was not ready for it at all. I got laid off from some casual jobs, was underpaid in others, and another job did not pay me at all. My university library closed, for which I had rented a room quite close by, and everything went online. I was quite frustrated about the situation because after so many problems I was finally where I wanted to be, but I was not able to attend lectures properly or make connections. Devastated, I started moving around and finding jobs. I came across a friend who needed help in his job, and I said yes. Fortunately, it was related to my field of Environmental Services. I enjoyed driving and setting up sensors for data collection and started a casual job again. It was good, but I wanted to do more. From here again, I took a different and less taken path.

It isn’t like I didn’t apply for every job that students were competing for. I also worked in cafes, as a kitchen hand, and other roles. But I wanted my part-time work to align with what I was studying, not just to pay bills. Something related to Environmental Science… while many students were applying for Uber Eats, cafes, retail, picker-packer, or mover jobs.

I went inward to ask the questions: what I want from the job and how it should be. When I picked my Master’s course, I was sure that I had to zoom out in my field rather than zoom in to specialise immediately. I wanted to understand ecological communities, food webs, and balances around me. I also applied for many field and council jobs but didn’t hear back from anyone at that time. I went more basic to start understanding tools and techniques used in planting and maintaining gardens. I started looking for “small” gardening businesses that could use a helper so I could spend more time outdoors with plants. At this point I had changed the game completely, as no student was looking for garden jobs during that time period.

I came across Gardening 4 U and I loved working there. I got training, was paid well, and helped the business market some brochures. It was physically demanding and involved exposure to heat, but it was only preparing me for what was coming next. At one point, I was doing three jobs along with my study assignments and everything together. Garden experience helped me make connections with more people, and I got to know about bush regeneration jobs. Again, I started looking for small companies who might need some help, which gave me another job along with a cafe job to cover enough hours.

All these roles were well thought out and researched steps to reach closer to what I love. I do not believe in luck. Bush regeneration was a dream: every day a new location and working with plants and animals to assist with restoration. It was super outdoors, in all weather conditions, battling with leeches and ticks more than spiders and snakes, I would say. I do not think people should fear spiders and snakes in Australia, although it is quite a thing on social media.

Dream almost got to end when my course was about to wrap up and I was doing an internship as a part of my final elective subject where I had to work with an industry partner. This is where I started working with a project called EcoCommons. It was mainly for the grades at first, but then I could see how I could cover gaps by using this revolutionary technology in field science. I got deeply involved with ecological modelling.

For my final presentation, I used my field experience to build a use case for this platform using a real example of species interaction called Richmond butterfly and its reaction to host plants at different altitudes of Richmond vines, and everybody loved it. I wanted to do a part two of it with the villain in the story but could not make time (I should do it soon). I was then offered a casual continuing position with Griffith University as staff.

Adaptation was quite different from fieldwork, but I had the hunger to make my work have a bigger impact by combining these. Learning code was quite daunting, but I always had an angle for technology, even fixing things almost like an engineer. Fortunately, we had a lot of training available in the university, our platform, and scientific articles to learn from. I just had to let myself absorb the challenges we were facing to save the project first and then upskill in a direction where I could increase impact or build a path with emerging technological advancements. This allowed me to explore different sides of project management and learn each component of how things operate to understand and improve workflows and user experience. I worked with species survey data, environmental and climate data, machine learning and statistical algorithms, and threatened species research.

How did you get your 1st break?

My first break came from people’s communication and building skills. By learning, practicing, and connecting with mentors 👥, I was able to step into roles in both India and Australia that aligned with my interests.

Approach and thought process: identify interests, find opportunities, build skills, and connect with mentors 🤝.

First Break 🌟

• India – Samavesh: Biodiversity Specialist
  • Training communities 🗣️, bird watching 🐦, vulture and tiger census 🐯, awareness campaigns, Earth Hour pledges 🌍.
• Australia – Bush It: Bush Regenerator / Environmental Field Officer
  • Learning fieldwork 🌿, ecological restoration 🛠️, and practical environmental management.

Qualifications and contacts guided each transition. I focused on practical learning and communication, which helped me move step by step.

What were some of the challenges and how did you address them? ⚡

• Pushing new boundaries: IGNOU did not offer year-wise mark sheets, which are required for international university admissions. I worked directly with the system to change this foundation and enable overseas education for IGNOU students. I became the first student to enable the year-wise mark sheet format for those applying outside India. Before me, no student had officially gained international admission through IGNOU. Whenever I feel down, I recall what one person’s voice can do to push a system to change its methods.
• New environments and communication: Changing cities and countries makes you start over with support networks, communication styles, and adapting to local culture and climate 🌎. Starting small and blank, step by step, without bias or preconceptions. New person = new canvas.
• New skill requirements: Learned through practice and mentorship 🛠️. I found that learning with applications makes it easier to recall and apply faster. Everyone has a learning style; it is a matter of exploring yourself, what you like, and how you like to learn.
• Embracing change: Learned to let go, take leaps of faith 🪂, and adapt. Change is the only constant. Everything will change whether we are on board or not. Uncertainty and the unknown—let them unfold. Stay grounded and breathe in the moment.
• Taking the unknown path: Building new career streams for ecologists in data science and technology. I was on an established path as an Environmental Field Ecologist in a new country, but new opportunities knocked, such as spatial science and statistical modelling. This brought me to a crossroads: take the leap or continue with the safe option. I think you know what I chose. The problem with people who know they can take risks, hahaha.

I also battled societal questions and concerns, but most of us have our own battles, so I will not go into details:

• Are you smart enough to take science? 🤔
• There is no career in biology other than doctors? 🩺
• Why not IAS if you want to bring change? 🏛️
• What if things don’t happen as planned? ⚡
• Go for safer or comfortable options? 🛋️

Tell us about your current work 🔬

I work on threatened species, ecological interactions, and biodiversity projects:

I currently work with QCIF Digital Research as a Data Ecologist. QCIF’s mission is to help researchers and organizations use advanced computing, data science, and digital tools to solve complex real‑world problems from climate science to biodiversity conservation.

As a Data Ecologist, my role is to connect ecology with technology. Nature produces enormous amounts of data—from satellite images, climate records, acoustic sensors, and species observations. My work is to analyze this information using data science, spatial analysis (GIS), ecological modelling, and sometimes machine learning to understand patterns in ecosystems.

For example, we may want to answer questions like:

• Where is a threatened species most likely to survive in the future?
• How will climate change affect its habitat?
• Where should conservation teams place monitoring sensors or focus restoration work?

To answer these questions, I combine field ecology knowledge with computational tools. I build models that bring together environmental variables such as rainfall, temperature, vegetation type, and landscape structure. These models help scientists and conservation managers make better decisions about where to protect habitats or invest conservation resources.

In simple terms, my job is to turn environmental data into insights that help protect biodiversity. It involves working on threatened species, ecological interactions, and biodiversity projects:

What are the skills needed:? How did you acquire them?

• Fieldwork 🌿: to build ecosystem structure understanding and find gaps in current biodiversity management and conservation practices (field projects, community interactions, and events).
• Data analysis 📊: to read what is beyond human capability for better monitoring, sensing, and understanding of the natural world (in-house training, online courses, and building small applied projects).
• Communication 🗣️: to connect with people who share values and care about a mission or cause (approaching respectfully, good listening, being genuine, and healthy discussions focused on needs).
• Teamwork 🤝: to maximize the potential of many minds working on the same problem (multi-disciplinary and diverse teams from around the world).
• Subject matter expertise: core ideology, theoretical ecology, improving observation, and learning new concepts as you grow and collaborate. There is always something new to learn from others.
• Project-based work depends on the project phase. My week often looks like this 🗓️:

Day	Activities
Mon–Tue	Communication and support 🗣️
Wed	Workflows and models 💻
Thu	Meetings and readings 📖
Fri	Testing and team check-ins ✅

•  
• A day can be very different depending on tasks. Generally, I start with emails, communication, and reading until noon, document research or code in the afternoon, and check on teammates before wrapping up the day.
• What I love ❤️: discovering ecology hidden in piles of cluttered data and sharing learning with the next generation of ecologists.
• Impact 🌍: supports biodiversity health and assisted vegetation growth; model outputs push policy changes and biodiversity planning documents.

Memorable Work? 🐦

Eastern Bristlebird Project:

This wonderful bird species has fewer than 20 individuals left in two of its main habitats in Australia. Grant funding is highly competitive, and resources must be used carefully to maximize conservation impact. We worked with BirdLife Australia and government departments to review available data from previous surveys and built habitat suitability models using climate and environmental datasets with machine learning and statistical calculations. We refined the models with field ecology teams to pinpoint high-suitability ecosystem areas where acoustic monitors should be installed to target surveys and hopefully find new individuals 🔊.

I am personally proud to have presented this work at the IDW Conference and to have built these models using both field and desk experience. It completed the full circle of how data turns into insights, combining field science with computational models, and brought two states together to work on conservation of a species of concern, maximising resources and target impact 🤝.

Advice to students? 💡

• Stay close to what you love most; everything else will fall under it ❤️.
• Admire change—people and circumstances will always change. The creation of this planet is an ongoing process. Learn to understand things around you and surf the waves 🌊.
• Expose yourself to problems to find solutions 🔍.
• Quality of connections over quantity; surround yourself with people who are passionate about what they do 🤝.
• Work with all individuals and keep your communication and energy open without bias. This world is a multilingual, magical ball; filtering to comfort zones takes away wonderful opportunities 🤗.
• Learning never finishes. The day we stop learning, we stop growing and living. Learn something every day, big or small 📚.

Future Plans 🎯

PhD vs current career path of a Data Ecologist

I do not wish to do a regular PhD and then have no experience and need to catch up with the world to get a starting job. I have met many people who did this, and I firmly say no to this path.

PhD with industry partner: Align research with practical ecological needs and policy impact, instead of a regular PhD that may leave me catching up later.

I will see where the path takes me, it will unfold itself 🙂