Principal Investigator | Lab Members | Interns | Alumni | Lab Group Photos

Dr Nandini Rajamani
Associate Professor

Nandini’s research interests include examining the ecology of species, and understanding adaptations and processes, particularly with respect to environmental (eg: climate change, production, and human-altered landscapes), and historic (eg: trade, collections) factors. Her lab works primarily with small mammal systems. Outside of research, she is involved in several initiatives to promote and communicate science to students, researchers, administrators, and the wider public.

• Associate Professor, Biology at IISR Tirupati: December 2023 onwards
• External Editor, Nature Communications Biology: 2020-2021
• Secretary, Ethological Society of India: 2020-2021
• Editorial Board Member, Cheetal Magazine, The Wildlife Preservation Society (WPS): 2020-2022
• Assistant Professor, Biology at IISER Tirupati: 2016 onwards
• Co-Director, IndiaBioscience Program, NCBS-TIFR: 2013-2016
  Editor, Current Conservation Magazine, 2010-2012
• Research Associate & Consultant (Education and Public Engagement Program), Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore, India: 2012-2013
• Post-doctoral Scholar, Centre d’Ecologie Functionnelle et Evolutive, CNRS, Montpellier, France: 2012-2013
• Ph.D. Scholar, Auburn University, USA: 2007-2011
  
  Email | Twitter | ResearchGate | GoogleScholar

Aravind P S
PhD Student

Aravind is broadly interested in behavioural ecology and invasion ecology, focusing on how species adapt to changing environments. During his Masters at Pondicherry University, he studied the spread of the invasive plant Lantana and its impact on native vegetation. As a PhD student at IISER Tirupati, Aravind is investigating small mammal adaptations to tropical elevation gradients in the Western Ghats, exploring how elevation influences species distribution, morphological traits, and behavioural adaptations. Beyond research, he enjoys exploring new landscapes and documenting biodiversity.
Email | Google Scholar | Instagram | Twitter | Linkedin

Deepti Chandraprakash
Lab Administrator

Deepti’s interests include science administration and education, and through her career she has been exposed to diverse work cultures in different countries. Following a masters in Life Science Informatics from the University of Boon, Germany, Deepti was a researcher focused on Bacterial Genomics and bioinformatics. She was also part of a young research laboratory at NCBS TIFR, Bengaluru, focused on bacterial expression systems. She then developed an interest in science management and communication, and took up a position as a Program Manager with IndiaBioScience, a pan-India science outreach initiative, focusing on management as well as education related initiatives. Following this, she was associated with a school where she coordinated and managed organisational activities and outreach. In her role at the Sciurid Lab, she manages and organises lab activities/projects, and provides technical support to various communication initiatives.
Email

Kavitha Unni KK 
Researcher

Kavitha is primarily interested in community ecology of small carnivores. For her Master’s thesis, she is studying about the patterns of sympatry and resource partitioning among small carnivores in a geographic area. The ultimate goal of her study is to uncover the underlying mechanisms that facilitate the coexistence of multiple small carnivore species, allowing them to share space and resources without excessive competition. The insights gained from this research can be aided in effective conservation strategies for these small carnivores. She has previously worked in the lab as a result of her participation in two semester projects associated with her master's thesis.
Email | Linkedin

Priyanka Mowlali
Researcher 

Priyanka is interested in the evolution of colour and behavioural ecology. In the lab, she is researching the colour variation in grizzled giant squirrels to understand the evolutionary adaptations across habitats in southern India and Sri Lanka, using citizen science image data. Previously, she has worked on various projects, including furrowed crab colouration and habitat selection behaviour, as well as guppy colouration. Her broader interests include visual signalling and the links between traits and behaviour, and she plans to pursue a PhD in the same field. In her free time, she enjoys exploring new cuisines and practising yoga.
Email | Linkedin | Instagram

Rakesh Kumar Muni
PhD Student

Rakesh is broadly interested in animal cognition, behavioural ecology and urban biodiversity. For his PhD, he studies behavioural adaptations in palm squirrels in the regions of overlaps, focusing on niche dynamics, acoustic displacement and variation in behavioural responses during resource acquisition. Previously, he has worked with BNHS to understand the impact of urban development on the population and behaviour of migratory waterbirds; and at IISER Berhampur, he explored the reproductive behaviour of Drosophila. In his free time, you can find him birding and capturing photos of wildlife; apart from that, he enjoys listening, composing and producing music.
Email | Instagram | Twitter

Shruti Gupta
PhD Student

Shruti is interested in behavioural ecology, with a particular focus on social interactions and mating systems. For her Master’s dissertation, she analysed the temporal and spatial dynamics along with microhabitat associations of Odonata assemblages. She later joined the Anamalai Primate Project in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve, where she observed Nilgiri langurs and documented their social interactions and feeding behaviours. Going forward, she is keen to explore the social interactions of small mammals, with a long-term interest in understanding how cognition and individual personality shape behaviour. Outside the field and lab, Shruti finds joy in dancing and expressing her thoughts through nature journaling.
Email | Instagram | Twitter

Siva Sankari G
PhD Student

Siva Sankari's area of interest broadly includes the behavioural ecology of mammals and nature conservation. Her interest in studying behaviour led her to choose the foraging ecology of grizzled and Malabar giant squirrels as her Master's thesis topic. As a PhD student, she is planning to look at life history traits and behavioural interactions in palm squirrels that live in modified habitats. She has previously worked with Wildlife SOS on a radio telemetry study of Sloth Bears in Karnataka to better understand human-bear conflicts. In her spare time, she enjoys creating mandalas, dot painting, and upcycling.
Email | Twitter | Instagram

Swati Udayraj
Research Affiliate

I am primarily interested in landscape & urban ecology, conservation biology, and understanding species' response to rapid environmental changes. For my PhD (with Nandini), I explored understanding squirrel distribution and response to anthropogenic change using modelling approaches. I built a database using multiple sources of occurrence data for 31 species of squirrels across 34 countries and used this to create species distribution models and understand past, present, and future distributions. I also documented species occupancy and response to urbanisation using the three-striped palm squirrel as a model system in Tirupati.  
Email |  Instagram

Sreelakshmi Pradeep | IISER Bhopal | Summer 2024
Project: Color Quantification of Giant Squirrels

Amalendu Sasikumar Nair | PSGR Krishnammal College for Women | Monsoon 2023-Summer 2024
Project: Squirrels of South Asia Database, Marmots of the World Database

Arpita Kar | University of Delhi | Monsoon 2023-Summer 2024
Project: Squirrels of South Asia Database, Marmots of the World Database

Nandita R Satish | Independent Researcher | Monsoon 2023-Summer 2024
Project: Squirrels of South Asia Database, Marmots of the World Database

View More

Dr Swati Udayraj | PhD Student | 2018-2025: Understanding squirrel distribution in response to anthropogenic change in South Asia.

Zeba Madani | Researcher | 2023-2025: Metabarcoding of diet contents of carnivores, especially brown bears in Himachal Pradesh.

Kavitha Unni | Master Student and Researcher | 2023-2025: Microscopy analysis and wet lab analysis for species identification and diet studies of the carnivores of Kutch in Gujarat.  
Master's thesis: Understanding patterns of sympatry and resource partitioning in mesocarnivores. A collaborative project with Dr Shomita Mukherjee, SACON-WII.

Dr Manzoor Ahmad Dar | 2018-2024: Co-Advised PhD Student registered at the University of Kashmir | PhD Dissertation: Assessment of species diversity, functional traits, and dietary signatures of plants in relation to feeding ecology of critically endangered Cervus hanglu hanglu (Hangul) in Dachigam National Park.

Dr Nivetha M | PhD Student | 2017-2024 
PhD dissertation: Evolution of color and pattern traits in squirrels: an integrative approach.

Dr Harsha Kumar | PhD Student | 2017-2024 
PhD dissertation: Adaptations of pikas to alpine stressors of the Tibetan Marginal Mountains.

Jeevan Xavier | Researcher | 2022-2024 
Projects: Microscopic analysis of the diet of Jungle cats.

Aashritha Sankara | Researcher | 2023-2024
Projects: Scat analysis for species identification and diet studies of the brown bear Ursus arctos isabellinus and the carnivores of Kutch in Gujarat. She also worked on the leopard conflict project in Tirupati.

Senan D'Souza | Researcher | 2017-2023 
Projects: Distribution of small mammals in Ladakh; Small mammal trapping in various landscapes across India; Biodiversity inventories at a mine site near Tirupati. 

Dr Brawin Kumar R | Postdoctoral Fellow | 2021-2022
Post Doctoral Project: Phylogeography, taxonomic reassessment of the endemic Indian rock rats in the genus Cremnomys (Rodentia, Muridae) to understand the evolutionary history and climate change impacts for conservation.

Rithika S | Researcher | 2021-2022
Master's Thesis (Pondicherry University): A study on the usage of a citizen science platform as a tool for biodiversity analysis across the urban-rural gradient of Tirupati.

Harsha Jagadeesh | IISER Tirupati BS-MS student | 2021-2022
Master's Thesis: A study on camouflage-influenced behavioural decisions in Funambulus palmarum

Keerthi O | IISER Tirupati BS-MS student | 2021-2022
Master's Thesis: Coat colouration and camouflage advantages in giant squirrels in the genus Ratufa.

View More