In 1974, Rom gave up his US citizenship for the privilege of visiting the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, then restricted territory for non-Indians. He fell in love with the picturesque islands and adopted them within his conservation focus. Little research was being done and Rom recognized the need to foster such an enterprise in this remote frontier.

Traveling between islands was difficult to conduct surveys, affordable accommodation was less than basic and since it was far removed from mainland India, a visiting researcher had a hard time hiring field assistants. Rom figured that the islands needed a field station and thus was born the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Environmental Team (ANET).

It provides cottages for researchers to stay, locally made motorized dug-out canoes for travel, and excellent Karen tribal field assistants. Although ANET has hosted marine biologists, herpetologists, ornithologists, ichthyologists, ANET’s team of researchers have also been in the forefront of conservation action in the islands by assessing the impact of various industries on the local coral and other ecosystems, helping produce a teachers’ training manual, conducting surveys, as well as rehabilitation of people when the tsunami hit the islands in 2004.

For decades one reptile has fascinated Rom more than any other, the king cobra. The extremely rare sightings of the snake prevented him from carrying out a research program.

Although he had bred them in captivity a couple of times, it only whetted his appetite for a full-fledged field research project. He built a network of contacts in the Western Ghats and zeroed in on Agumbe as the most likely place for such a study. It was hardly surprising as he had caught his first king cobras here back in 1971.

It receives some of the heaviest rainfall in the world and working here during its annual downpour was a daunting thought. The proximity of educational institutions close by in Mangalore, Bangalore and Mysore had not helped in promoting research in this area. Perhaps a field station was needed to provide facilities for visiting scientists. Poring over maps of the area, Rom realized that Agumbe was contiguous with other Protected Areas making it the largest chunk of rainforest left in the Western Ghats. In 2004, a small legacy left by his mother, Doris Norden, helped Rom purchase a tract of land smack in the middle of the forest.

He won the Whitley Award in 2005 to establish a station, Agumbe Rainforest Research Station along the lines of ANET. Dry comfortable cottages, liaison with the local Forest officials, a cook who turns out wholesome Indian meals and a sustainable solar and hydel power system has converted Agumbe into a researchers’ dream. King cobras, grey langurs, leopards, lion-tailed macaques outnumber the researchers at the base.