Dr. Sanjeeta Sharma Pokharel, a CES alumnus, has been awarded one of Nepal's prestigious honours "Nepal Bidya Bhushan Padak" (KA category, year 2018) for her PhD thesis work. The award was given by the President of Nepal, Bidya Devi Bhandari on the occasion of the National Education Day and International Literacy Day, on behalf of the Government of Nepal (Ministry of Science and Technology).

Dr Sanjeeta Sharma Pokharel carried her thesis on the topic "Stress physiology of free-ranging Asian elephants (Elephas maximus): influence of ecological and anthropogenic stressors". Her PhD advisers were Prof Sukumar (CES) and Prof. P. B. Seshagiri (MRDG). Her work was featured in prominent media outlets worldwide (http://ces.iisc.ac.in/new/?q=node/584.)