Dr. Badola is currently working as Scientist G / Senior Professor and heading the Department of Eco-Development Planning and participatory management at Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. She is looking after Training and Academics at WII as Nodal Officer. She has been conducted applied research on various aspects of wildlife management such as eco-development planning, human-wildlife conflict mitigation, valuation of ecosystem services, livelihood development, covering almost all States in the country. She has developed Management Plans for seven wetlands of conservation importance in the states of Manipur, Bihar, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
She is coordinating the Ganga Biodiversity conservation initiative under the Namami Gange flagship programme of GoI. This project aims to develop a science based species recovery program for the restoration of Ganga river and its major tributaries, with the participation of key stakeholders. Under this project she has mobilized a cadre of trained volunteers known as Ganga Praharis, who are assisting the Government of India in restoring aquatic biodiversity of Ganga River basin. The Ganga Prahari cadre is an innovative example of leadership at the grassroots levels that is endeavoring to bring about a social, economic and ecological transformation. This project has brought been able to lay the foundations for advanced studies on Biodiversity conservation for river restoration, and developed models that link river conservation with conservation poriented livelihood models.
She is also the principal investigator of the project on “Assessment of ecological status of select Indian rivers for conservation planning” funded by the NRCD, and the CAMPA funded project on “Conservation of the Sangai Deer in the Keibul Lamjao National Park”. She has developed and implemented pioneer training programmes in human dimension of wildlife conservation. She has published over 100 peer reviewed articles in journals of international repute, books and book chapters. She has institutionalized mechanisms to involve communities and ecodevelopment planning for Protected Areas, and has been at the forefront for developing mechanisms for institution building in wildlife conservation.
