From 2012, when we met for the first time, we were referring to our informal group as "Corbett Brothers", or "Corbett Brotherhood". As we are from different continents (Priyvrat from Asia, Manfred from Europe, Kotecha from Africa, Fernando from America, and Joseph from Australia) we call ourselves formally as "Jim Corbett International Research Group". The group is dedicated to the scholarly study of Jim Corbett's legacy and popularization of the deeds of this extraordinary man.
The original "Corbett Brothers"
Priyvrat Gadhvi, is a Biotechnologist from Gujarat, India- the youngest member of the group. Priyvrat was a co-author on the groundbreaking project that conducted the world’s first whole genome sequencing (total DNA mapping) of the Amur Tiger, African Lion and Snow Leopard published in Nature communications in September, 2013. He is a member of the State Board for Wildlife, Gujarat and also heads a plant tissue culture unit in Gujarat’
Joseph Jordania, PhD, is an award winning ethnomusicologist and evolutionary musicologist from the University of Melbourne, Australia. He published over hundred scholarly articles and several books on the origins of human choral singing, intelligence, and morphology. His latest book “Tiger, Lions and Humans: History of Rivalry, Conflict, Reverence and Love” (Logos, 2014) discusses evolutionary interaction between humans and big cats.
Manfred Waltl, PhD, is a biologist and theologian from Munich, Germany. He studied biology, chemistry and theology and finished his studies with a PhD on the significance of Sociobiology for Theology and Ethics (published as a book in German). Manfred is a dedicated photograph and took most of the trip photos.
Preetum Gheerawo (Indian name: Kotecha Kristoff) is a Theoretical Physicist (specialised in Radio-Astronomy and in Cosmology), and works in Mauritius as High School educator in Physics. A Former scholar in Evolutionary Biology and self-learned Naturalist. Lover of big cats and dedicated to their conservation. A Keen Corbett fan since nearly four decades.
Fernando Quevedo de Oliveira is a photojournalist from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He has been working from 1988 at the newspaper O Globo. Published articles in O Globo, Geographic Universal Magazine, Manchete Magazine, Terra Magazine, Nature Magazine. Fernando is an avid nature enthusiast and visited the African savanah several times, countries like Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Namibia, South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe. He went to India to watch tigers in Nagarahole Park in Karnataka estate.
Rushika Jayalukshmi is a student at the Loreto Girls Convent in Mauritius. Studies Literature and Geography at 'A' Level mainly. Fan of Shakespeare and The Beatles amongst others. Has been to Thak, Chuka, Champawat, Mohan, Rudraprayag and Muktesar among Corbett related sites.
Reyna Jayalukshmi is a student at Forest Side Girls College in Mauritius. Studies mainly Science subjects. Has accompanied her elder sister Rushika at mentioned Corbett sites above. Both were arguably the youngest foreign girls to have visited Thak in 2012.
Ali Akhtar is a Mechanical Engineer from Dubai, originally from India. He graduated in Mechanical Engineering in 2006 and started his career as Lecturer of Physics and continued to do so till 2010. He has been working in Energy sector since 2010. Ali is fascinated by the big questions of the universe and has written several notes about Big Bang Singularity and time travel. Ali is an avid nature lover and a big fan of Jim Corbett and his writings. He read Corbett's book Man-Eaters of Kumaon and his other books for the first time in 2012 and since then developed a great desire to visit the Corbett places in Kumaon. He is the author of a highly acclaimed research on the kill site of the Mohan man-eating tiger and other places frequented by legendary hunter turned conservationist Major Jim Corbett.
Our consultants
We are very lucky to be associated with a number of people from different regions of the World and of various walks of life, that we call our consultants. Our consultants all have in common some unique knowledge and/or deep association with the Corbett family, so their skills and knowledge are essential to obtain and analyse information on various sides of life of the Great Man.
Peter Byrne, apart from working as a professional hunter in Nepal, also headed several research expeditions in Himalayas and Western part of the USA in search of sasquatch and other cryptozoological specimen. Peter was one of the first Corbett researchers. His 2003 book "Shikari Sahib" (Gentlemen Hunter) is dedicated to Corbett hunts and hunting places. Peter was an inspiration for our current research team as he was the real pioneer in identifying Corbett related places as far back as 1975.
Marc Newton is Managing Director of London gunmaker John Rigby & Co. (Gunmakers) Ltd. He has dedicated himself to revitalising the Rigby name in the modern gunmaking world. The Company owns the Corbett's legendary Rigby-Mauser .275 that was given to Corbett for killing the Champawat man-eater, and was later used to kill the Rudraprayag leopard, Talla Des tigress, and Chowgarh tigress. Marc wrote a chapter about Jim Corbett's .275 rifle in the 2016 book "Behind Jim Corbett's Stories". He also visited Corbett's hunting places in Kumaon in 2016.
Bill Jones is American Businessman from Birmingham, Alabama, Previous Member for Carbon Processing & Reclamation LLC. Bill is the owner one of the richest private collections of historic hunting rifles. His collection includes rifles of Philip Percival, Frederic Selous, Ernest Hemingway, and Elmer Keith, to name a few. Most importantly for us, Bill is currently the owner of Corbett's faithful old friend the 450/400 Jeffery & Co. D.B. Express Rifle, which Corbett used on several man-eaters including Mohan, Kanda, Chuka and the Thak man-eaters. Bill Jones visited Corbett hunting places in Kumaon in 2016.
Nilanjana Dalmia, descendant of the Verma family of Nainital, is a School Principal at the Golden Heights School in Delhi and is the current owner of Gurney House. This house occupied by the Corbett family since 1881, had been sold to the Verma family by Jim and Maggie in November 1947, prior to leaving India for Kenya. Gurney House still holds almost all of its original furniture and several Corbett artefacts including many ungulate head trophies and books.
Keith McCafferty is an award-winner novelist for Viking/Penguin Books and the survival and outdoor skills editor of Field & Stream. His story "The Last Tiger," about Jim Corbett's hunting of the Thak Man-eater and his legacy in conservation, helped Field & Stream win a National Magazine Award. Keith is a life-long Corbett admirer and has traveled throughout much of Corbett's Kumaon. He writes, hunts and fishes in his home state of Montana, in the United States.
AJT Johnsingh is a self-taught wildlife ecologist and books by and on Jim Corbett motivated him to study wildlife. He has been visiting Corbett landscape since 1993. His recent and fifth visit to Chuka was in November 2016 when he and his colleagues first time saw tiger signs in several places. His book On Jim Corbett's trail and other tales from the jungle, published by Natraj Publishers, Dehra Dun should be available in a short period of time. Presently he works with Nature Conservation Foundation, WWF-India and Corbett Foundation.
I.T. Executive Manager of Website
Bruce D. Watson, DEd, is volunteer I.T. Executive Manager. He is an Educator, Educationist, Community Developer, Community Engager and Researcher. He is Principal and Founder of Heads Together (headstogether.com.au). He is a community engagement and organisation development specialist. He offers an authentic facilitation of learning approach; partnering with people, groups and organisations to understand what they need and assisting them to find their own solutions or to design approaches to meet their specific needs.
Copyright (C) 2021JIM CORBETT INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH GROUP Dr. Bruce D. Watson, HEADS TOGETHER, www.headstogether.com.au