Romulus Earl Whitaker is a herpetologist, wildlife conservationist and founder of the Madras Snake Park, The Andaman and Nicobar Environment Trust (ANET), and the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust. In 2008, Whitaker was selected as an Associate Laureate in the 2008 Rolex Awards for Enterprise, for his efforts to create a network of rainforest research stations throughout India. In 2005 he was a winner of a Whitley Award for outstanding leadership in nature conservation. He used this award to found the Agumbe Rainforest Research Station in Karnataka, for the study of King Cobras and their habitat. Rom and his sister Gail grew up in New York City. After the birth of his sister Nina, his mother Doris Norden and his stepfather, Rama Chattopadhyaya moved the family to India when Rom was seven. Rom's stepfather was a pioneer in color film processing in Bombay for Bollywood. His brother Neelkanth was born in Mumbai in 1953. Rom continued his education at the Kodaikanal International School. He studied briefly at Wyoming University. During the early Vietnam era he was drafted into the U.S. Army, where he trained and was a medic on a military base hospital in Japan.