Tuheina hails from the Himalayan town of Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India, where the mountains, wildlife, and mountain shepherds shaped her early sense of curiosity and belonging. Her fascination with the Himalayan landscapes grew into a career in wildlife research, beginning with a Master’s degree in Zoology from Panjab University, Chandigarh, and later a research position at the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. Over the past decade, she has studied Himalayan fauna through intensive field surveys on snow leopards and herpetofauna, often spending weeks in remote landscapes without connectivity.

Her work has always been guided by the belief that conservation cannot succeed without people. To strengthen this perspective, she pursued a Diploma in Environmental Law & Policy at WWF & NLU, Delhi, focusing on Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures in India.

Currently, as a Ph.D. ICON student in the Wildlife and Water Lab, Odum School of Ecology, UGA, she aims to explore the interconnections between wildlife, water, and communities. By weaving ecological and ethnographic approaches, she aims to develop holistic understandings of complex socio-ecological systems that support both biodiversity conservation and human well-being.

She hopes to eventually bring this work to the Himalayas—into schools, households, and local governance—so that communities can be active participants in decisions about the natural heritage in their backyards.

Her research Interests span ecology and evolution, conservation ecology, habitat ecology, threatened species management, water resources, herpetology, and integrative conservation, with a growing focus on qualitative social research, political ecology, and feminist ecology.