Archives at NCBS | Team Profiles

The Archives at NCBS (https://archives.ncbs.res.in/) is a public centre for the history of science in contemporary India. We are a diverse team, bringing in varied skillsets and experiences, toward the common aim of enabling public, digital access to diverse histories of science from across the sub-continent. 

Various technical teams from across NCBS – civil, architecture, electrical, IT, instrumentation, hospitality – helped conceptualize and build the physical structure of the Archives at NCBS. The archiving team has been a crew of about 130 students and professionals working for different stints (months to years!) since ~2013. These include archivists and historians, designers and conservators, journalists and writers, scientists and administrators and librarians, students of sociology, engineering, history, photography, the sciences, marketing, education, and architecture and design. The Archives is governed by a guiding Archives Policy, an internal Archives Review Committee and an external advisory board (for more about this, head to the About Page: https://archives.ncbs.res.in/about). 

Get to know us and read the profiles of current team members. If you want to know about our alumni or what they were/have been up to, head to the Archives Alumni Pages (https://archives.ncbs.res.in/alumni and https://archives.ncbs.res.in/alumni-profile). And if you'd like to be part of this team, write to us at archives at ncbs dot res dot in

Revision Date: Jul 4, 2026

Anjali Ramachandran I work as an archivist at the Archives at NCBS, where I coordinate archival processing and lead education outreach through internships, school and volunteer programs. I have worked at IIT Bombay Archives and Museum as an archivist and researcher, and was part of a team that set up the Virtual Experiential Museum on Ajanta, a digital museum on the Ajanta caves at the National Museum, New Delhi. I also made a short documentary on the role of the local community in the conservation of heritage precincts in Mumbai. Prior to this, I taught English in a high-school in Pune.

Deepika S. I work as Senior Archivist and manage new accessions and oral histories, among other things. I’ve previously worked in the Indian Institute of Science’s Archives and Office of Communications and helped produce their magazine Connect. Prior to this, I worked as a journalist, and have written and edited for The Hindu, the long-form journalism platform Yahoo! Originals India, and the feminist webzine The Ladies Finger. I also worked for Agents of Ishq, a multimedia sex education project.

Dhanya Shree R I am an assistant conservator at the Archives at NCBS, working in the Conservation Lab where I assist with the stabilization, preservation, and reintegration of archival materials. I hold a background in Art and Heritage Conservation from the Indian Institute of Heritage, Delhi, and have experience in the preservation and digitization of palm-leaf manuscripts at the Mythic Society, Mysore.

Dhatri S Aradhya I work as an archivist, handling physical material at the archives to arrange and catalogue them for online access and offline storage. I am also a graphic designer. I like to curate using objects in the archives. I also occasionally work with the team to develop posters and other visual outputs to aid our public engagement.

Kinjal Shah I am currently working as an Assistant Conservator at the Archives at NCBS, where I prepare condition reports for archival materials and assist the conservator with various preservation treatments. I hold a fine arts background with a specialization in ceramics, which I continue to explore through my studio practice in Bangalore. I instruct at various ceramic studios and have actively participated in numerous gallery exhibitions and workshops nationally and internationally.

Nisha Bhakat I am a researcher and archivist, and have been associated with the Archives at NCBS in various capacities since 2024. I have worked on research projects, archival processing, and have been a metadata archivist for ecology and conservation collections. I also lead a PAST project in collaboration with Nature Conservation Foundation, on Archiving Bengal Natural History Society papers. My academic background includes a postgraduate degree in wildlife biology & conservation from NCBS, and a graduation in chemical engineering. My research interests lie in the past and present of wildlife beyond protected areas, and in the history and culture of science in Eastern India.

Ojas Kadu I work as a Software Architect for web development at the Archives at NCBS, where I maintain the open source forks of ArchivesSpace – an archives information management application and DSpace – a repository management application for digital content. I also implement the end-to-end workflow to make the collection catalogues and digital objects at Archives at NCBS accessible to the public and work on developing tools for archival annotation, research and discovery. Prior to this, I have worked at the IDC School of Design at IIT Bombay as a Project Technical Assistant and was part of the team that set up the Virtual Experiential Museum on Ajanta at the National Museum, New Delhi.

Parvathy Venukuttan I work as an archivist, organising and cataloguing collections at the Archives at NCBS to make them accessible freely to the public. With a background in environmental history, I have archived collections that document the intricate relationships of communities with their environment and highlight the critical narratives of environmental activism. I also try to actively research these collections to find connections and curate research guides to aid scholars and the public navigate our collections.

Ravi Kumar Boyapati I work as a Facility Coordinator at the Archives at NCBS, where I ensure the seamless operation of the facility by coordinating across departments and addressing issues vital to its function. Prior to this role, I worked as a researcher in Axel Brockmann’s Lab at NCBS, focusing on the navigational and foraging behaviour of honey bees and fruit flies, specifically exploring how these insects learn their pathways home and locate food sources.

Sanjna GY I am a researcher, archivist and poet with a background in political science and anthropology. I am interested in crafting an ethnographic approach to the archives and my quests so far has revolved around the questions of violence, institutions, memory and archives. I have been associated with the Archives at NCBS in various roles since May 2021 and move between processing collections, researching and writing with archival material both academically and creatively. Previously, I have worked with the Centre for Research Collections at the University of Edinburgh and with the UN Archives and Library in Geneva.

Sindhu Nagaraja I work as an Archival Conservator at Archives at NCBS, where I manage the condition of the physical collection by maintaining condition reports and performing conservation treatments of deteriorated materials. Previously, I worked with the Museum of Art and Photography as a Course Anchor for training in paper conservation. Prior to this I obtained training and worked at INTACH Conservation Institute, Bangalore. Here I was part of in-situ conservation projects and worked on prominent collections like Karnataka State Museum, Roerich Collection and private collections at the lab.

Venkat Srinivasan I head the Archives at NCBS, with a core interest in archival processing of manuscript collections and oral history interviews. I am also a founding member of the Milli Archives Foundation, which is committed to nurturing archives in India (milli.link/about), and serve on the review boards for the archives at IIT Madras and ISI Kolkata, and a sub-committee of the ICA SUV. Prior to this, I worked as a research engineer at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, which is where I developed an interest in the intersection of science, its history and its presence in public discourse. My independent writing has appeared in Nautilus, Aeon, Guernica, Wire, and the Caravan.

Vinay Kumar I am a metadata archivist at the Archives at NCBS, working on enhancing metadata for material related to indigenous communities. Previously, I held a fellowship at Coexistence studies, TDU, where I worked with the Solega community in B.R. Hills to learn about and document traditional forest management practices. Over the past few years, I have also collaborated with social organizations working in the rural areas of South India.