Manjula became fascinated with the marine environment while studying at the Sri Aurobindo International Center of Education, Pondicherry, where she was part of the dive team, Dauphins Associés. Her first sea turtle project in 1991 was a survey of the remote beaches of the Nicobar Islands for the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust. The challenges and adventures of this trip set the theme for her future projects. In 1994, Manjula joined the Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research at the University of Florida, where she earned a Master’s Degree for her loggerhead sea turtle research in Florida, Brazil and Greece, and a PhD analyzing density-dependent processes and green turtle hatchling production at Tortuguero, Costa Rica. Today, Manjula is President of Ocean Ecology Network, a US-based international NGO, and works as a Conservation Scientist affiliated with the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) Marine Turtle Ecology and Assessment Program in La Jolla, California, as well as a Scientific and Technical Advisor to international sea turtle projects funded by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. With a focus on sea turtle research and conservation, her projects and collaborations address a wide range of issues, including nesting beach ecology, the impact of fisheries on sea turtle populations, and developing holistic conservation strategies with governments and local communities, in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the South Pacific. Manjula serves on many international committees, including the Advisory Committee to the Convention for Migratory Species’ Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation and Management of Marine Turtles and their Habitats of the Indian Ocean and South-East Asia. The local communities in the Turtle Islands of Sierra Leone have named a beach “Manjula Beach” in recognition of her efforts to conserve their sea turtles.