Mahardika Putra Purba “Dika,” Assistant Professor in Forestry at the State Agricultural Polytechnic of Kupang on Timor Island, served as the Program Director for Alam Sehat Lestari (ASRI) in Borneo and as Conservation Program Manager for four years. Now, Dika works as a Conservation Program Consultant for Health In Harmony, supporting the organization as it scales the model to Madagascar, Brazil, and beyond.

He is also an external affiliated researcher in the Program for Disease Ecology, Health, and the Environment at Stanford University and is a Research Associate at PlanetLab, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University. He was recently selected for the 2022 cohort for the Climate and Health Public Engagement Leadership Program organized by Dalberg and funded by Wellcome.

He holds a B.Sc with a major in Forestry Engineering from the University of Sumatera Utara in Indonesia, an M.Sc in Tropical Silviculture from Bogor Agricultural University, and an M.Sc in forest genetics from the University of Zurich. His research / work focuses on forest genetics, forest conservation, ecosystem restoration, and a planetary health approach to conservation and sustainable development.