Time Magazine Women of the Year honouree, Dr. Purnima Devi Barman is a wildlife biologist and Conservationist from Assam, India, popularly known as “Hargila Baido” or “Stork Sister. She made  India proud by receiving  the United Nations’ highest environmental honor, UNEP Champion of the Earth  2022. “Dr Purnima Devi Barman was listed in the Time Magazines  women of the year 2025 list out of 13 extraordinary women of the world, being the only Indian to receive this honour. Dr. Barman is the recipient of  two times Green oscars including the Whitley Gold Award (Green Oscars) in 2024, the top prize of the Whitley Award, conferred by Her Royal Highness Princess Anne at the Royal Geographical Society in London. She previously received the Whitley Award Green Oscars in 2017 for her groundbreaking work towards saving endangered birds.She has been honored with the Nari Shakti Puraskar 2017 which is  India’s highest civilian award for women, conferred  by the President of India. 

– She is the founder of the Hargila Army, an all-female conservation initiative dedicated to protecting the Greater Adjutant Stork in Assam, India. Through this initiative, she has mobilized over 20,000 rural women, giving them a voice for bird and biodiversity conservation and empowering them through various livelihood and capacity-building programs.

-Dr. Barman received her Ph.D. from Gauhati University for her work on “Foraging Ecology, Breeding Success, and Genetic Status of Greater Adjutant Stork in Kamrup, Assam,” under the guidance of Prof. D.K. Sharma. She also received an Honorary Doctorate from Sri Sathya Sai University for her work in Human Excellence in Social Service, Philanthropy, and Species Restoration. She also received Honorary Doctorate from Jorhat Agriculture University conferred by Honourable Governor of Assam. 

– As a mother of twin teenage daughters, Dr. Barman emphasizes that motherhood has taught her the responsibility of saving the Earth for future generations. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, interacting with children, and bird watching.

– In January 2019, she hosted an international conference for the empowerment of women in nature networks in Guwahati, Assam, where women conservationists from 13 countries participated.

– Dr. Barman has been invited as a keynote speaker to many international events, including the 2018 Vancouver Bird Festival, the Vancouver Ornithological Congress, the American Ornithological Congress in Puerto Rico, and a plenary Speaker in World Environmental Education Congress in Abu Dhabi 2024. She has presented her papers globally and received international training in France, Germany, Mexico, Guyana, Argentina, New Zealand, Germany, the USA, UK, Kyrgyzstan Cambodia, Malaysia, and Canada etc . She was also invited as a plenary speaker at the Society for Conservation Biology’s ICCB conference in Malaysia 2020.

– Dr. Barman and her Hargila Army’s work have been documented by Cornell University, PBS Nature,  The New York Times, The Guardian, and National Recent  she has been highlighted by Forbes as a local Sustainable leader. She is also a two times TEDx speaker.In 2018, she received the World Female Ranger Award 2022  from “How Many Elephants,” a London-based organization, further attesting to her global recognition.