Born and brought up in the Andaman Islands, Sumit’s interest in birds began with exploring the landscapes he grew up around and gradually developed into a career in field biology and bird guiding. Over the years, his work has taken him well beyond the familiar birding sites of the Andamans, including extended fieldwork across the Nicobar Islands. He is among the few birders to have spent substantial time across the main Nicobar Islands, giving him a particularly broad perspective on the region’s highly localised and often little-known birdlife.

Birds remain the main focus of Sumit’s work. His experience includes several biodiversity monitoring and field research programmes, including studies of shorebird diversity and distribution, birds of protected areas in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and population monitoring of the Nicobar Megapode. He has also been involved in the Asian Waterbird Census and has worked with Forest Department personnel on bird identification and field observation.

His interests extend well beyond birds. Sumit has a particular interest in butterflies and moths, as well as reptiles, amphibians and other lesser-known wildlife. His work on Lepidoptera has included the discovery and description of Suhela cuneus in 2024, along with records of 16 moth species new to India and 48 species newly recorded from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Before establishing Island Explorer Birding Tours, Sumit worked as a Senior Research Fellow at the Zoological Survey of India, Andaman and Nicobar Regional Centre, contributing to field-based biodiversity research and documentation. Alongside his research and fieldwork, Sumit guides birding and wildlife tours across the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. His approach combines detailed knowledge of the region’s faunal diversity with a broader interest in its natural history, making the experience about more than simply finding a list of endemic species.