As wildlife ecologist, Mirza focuses on the conservation of amphibians and reptiles in tropical forest ecosystems. She also doing research on the trade in amphibians and reptiles, and human wildlife conflicts. In the last 15 years, Mirza has been heavily involved in mainstreaming amphibian and reptile research in Indonesia and has encouraged capacity building of young researchers in the field of herpetology. Mirza was one of the founders of the Herpetological Society of Indonesia and the initiator of the citizen science project “Our Amphibian Reptile Observation Movement” or GO ARK which aims to improve amphibian and reptile distribution data using citizen science as a tool. Mirza is also active with the Species Survival Commission, IUCN. She is a member of SSC amphibian specialist group, member of the Steering Committee of SSC-IUCN and Regional Vice Chair for South and East Asia, SSC-IUCN.

An ecologist, with a particular interest in promoting stewardship and recovery of wildlife and nature through regenerative developments. Having around 25 years of experience in conservation, recent works focus on the research, protection, and restoration of biodiversity including wildlife and the ecosystem processes within protected areas and in multi-use landscapes covering production forests and plantation areas.

Completed university degrees in three different continents (Asia, Europe, and America). Received Ph.D. in Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences from Virginia Tech, USA; MSc in Applied Ecology and Conservation from the University of East Anglia, UK; and Sarjana Sains in Biology from the University of Indonesia.

Involved in conserving various taxa, mainly birds and large terrestrial mammals including tigers, elephants, rhinos, and orangutans. Currently a member of IUCN Species Survival Commission's Specialist Groups for Cats; Asian Elephants; and Asian Rhinos. A recipient of the British Government's Chevening Award in 1999, and Kinship Conservation Fellowship since 2019.

Working experience includes academics (co-instructed at Virginia Tech, and currently a Research Associate at the University of Indonesia, and a Fellow at the Center for Transdisciplinary Science and Sustainability (CTSS), IPB University), civil society (such as WWF, Conservation International, Wildlife Conservation Society, co-founder and advisory board member of HarimauKita -The Sumatran Tiger Conservation Forum), funding agency (Program Advisory Committee member, KFW-IUCN ITHCP), restorative business (now as Wildlife and Landscape Ecologist with Permian Global and Senior Adviser for the Katingan Mentaya Project), and member of various government's wildlife conservation-related task forces.

Works with the team have been featured in various media nationally and internationally including BBC, NatGeo, MetroTV, Tempo Magazine, Kompas Daily, All Creatures Podcast, etc. Have written a number of scientific articles published in international peer-reviewed journals such as PLoS ONE, Journal of Zoology, and Oryx. Also produced popular articles in various outlets, including Sinar Harapan, Kompas, Jakarta Post, Tempo, Mongabay, BBC Earth, National Geographic, ForestDigest, Medium, The Conversation, etc. Some of these works are documented here: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sunarto_Sunarto2

Loves to run, swim, or cycle whenever possible.