Smithsonian Journeys Experts

Dr. Neeti Bathala has taught ecology and environmental sciences at the undergraduate and graduate levels for almost two decades. She is also an instructor for adult learners at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Duke University. An ecologist by training, with master’s degrees from Duke and Temple University and a PhD from the University of Georgia, Neeti has participated in numerous local and global conservation projects. Her research has taken her to diverse biomes worldwide, from monitoring bottlenose dolphins in the Mediterranean to studying carbon storage in Alaska's boreal forests for the National Science Foundation. During her time working at ecological research sites in Alaska, she maximized the midnight sun to work around the clock, exploring the Tanana River and staying at a reindeer research facility at Denali National Park.  She has conducted research in Costa Rica with the Organization for Tropical Studies and studied marine communities in Belize, Hawaii, and the Galápagos Islands.

Neeti is an award-winning author of children’s literature and is involved in community public education on coastal and environmental issues. She serves on the Board of Advisors of the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University and has served as a mentor for students in Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment graduate program.