[1] She documented the movement of turtles all over the country and worked as an assistant to Edward Moll, the chairman of the World Conservation Union's Freshwater Chelonian Specialist Group.
While in her first year as a zoology student at Ethiraj College for Women, Chennai,[3] she volunteered at the Madras Snake Park probably sometime in 1978.
At 22, she was recommended by Romulus Whitaker to assist Edward Moll, the then chairman of the World Conservation Union's Freshwater Chelonian Specialist Group for an India-wide survey of turtles.
She traveled all over the country and gathered data that helped reduce sea turtle exploitation.
To commemorate her work and sacrifice, the cane turtle which was found to belong to a new genus based on research conducted 19 years after her death, was named as Vijayachelys.