Surendra Behera has been a part of Dakshin since 2010. He has been involved in the long-term monitoring project on Olive Ridley sea turtles in Odisha under the Marine Flagships programme, conducting offshore transects, arribada census, beach mapping, hatchery construction, and mass hatching data collection. Recently, he has also been leading community work under the SeaChange Programme, focusing on issues related to fisheries, waste management, community health, education, and mapping of commons. In his spare time, he enjoys writing and excels at volleyball. He is fluent in Odia and Hindi.