PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR:
Krushnamegh Kunte, PhD: January 2012 to present
2012/01-2017/12: Reader (Assistant Professor)
2018/01 onward: Associate Professor.
POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOWS:
Saleem Mustak: February 2022 to present: Chemical Defenses of Aposematic Butterflies
We are accepting applications for post-docs.
PhD STUDENTS:
Athulya Girish Kizhakke: January 2016 to present. Behavioural Genetics of Butterflies
Bhavya Dharmaraaj: February 2016 to present: Colour and its Role in Natural and Sexual Selection in Butterflies
Viraj Nawge: Jul 2019 to present: Population Dynamics and Genetics of Mimicry in Butterflies
Ujwala Pawar: February 2021 to present: Taxonomy and Systematics of Indian Butterflies
Dipendra Nath Basu: April 2014 to present: Taxonomy of Indian Butterflies; Research Collection Curation
Riddhi Deshmukh: January 2015 to present: Genetics and Development of Wing Patterns in Papilio Butterflies
Saurav Baral: January 2015 to present: Genetics and Development of Wing Patterns in Papilio Butterflies
Vaishali Bhaumik: January 2016 to present: Evolution and Diversification of Butterfly Body Form; Population Biology of Butterfly Migrations, and its Evolutionary and Genetic Consequences
RESEARCH FELLOWS:
Muktai Kuwalekar: July 2019 to present: Molecular Evolution of Adaptive Genes in the Lepidoptera
Ajay Padvi: June 2019 to present: Molecular Evolution of Adaptive Genes in the Lepidoptera
ROTATION STUDENTS AND LONG-TERM INTERNS (INCLUDING MASTERS THESIS STUDENTS):
Swathi H. A.: April 2018 to present: Biology of Indian butterflies
SUMMER INTERNS:
NA
SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATES AND VISITING SCHOLARS:
Prof. Sushil K. Dutta: Nature, Environment and Wildlife Society, Angul, Odisha. Spring 2015 to present: Herptology in India. Also Curator of Herpetology and Scientific Associate of the NCBS Museum and Field Stations Facility.
Kiran Marathe: University of British Columbia, Canada: Indian cicadas and jumping spiders
Shantanu Joshi: Indian Foundation for Butterflies: Indian odonates
Sarika Baidya: NatureMates Nature Club, Kolkata: Indian butterflies
Christopher John Thorpe: University of Plymouth, UK: Indian crabs
Tripti Shukla: On a University of Plymouth project on Indian crabs
Other staff:
Tulasamma: 2016 to present: Gardning and greenhouse maintenance.
We are currently looking for Post-doctoral Research Fellows, PhD students and motivated, long-term interns to join us. See further information under join the lab.
FORMER LAB MEMBERS:
Post-Doctoral Fellows:
Nikhil Gaitonde: October 2018 to September 2019
Suman Attiwilli: January to December 2018
Gandhimathi A.: Febaruary 2016 to March 2017
Varad Giri: 2017-2018
Jahnavi Joshi: February 2013 to December 2016
Kiran Kumar HB: February 2012
PhD Students:
Dhanashree Lakhe: January 2018 to September 2019, discontinued.
Nikhil Gaitonde: Dec 2012 to Aug 2018: Behavioral Ecology of Mimetic Butterflies; Breeding Biology of Nyctibatrachus Wrinkled Frogs
Shiyu Su: National University of Singapore, co-advised with Dr. Matthew Lim. December 2012 to October 2015: Colour and its Role in Natural and Sexual Selection in Mimetic Butterflies
Rhucha Vatturkar: NCBS, 2012 to 2014, discontinued.
Sushma Thingujam: NCBS, January to May 2018, discontinued.
Research Assistants:
Tarun Karmakar: June 2017 to present: Biology and Conservation of Indian Butterflies, Research Collection Curation; Reproductive Biology of Xanthophryne
Graduate Trainees and Junior Research Fellows:
Vinod Shankar: September 2018 to May 2019: Molecular Evolution of Adaptive Genes in the Lepidoptera
Shivansh Singhal: October to December 2018: Molecular evolution of doublesex in Papilio polytes
Yogesh Bangal: July to November 2018: Diversification of Indian Butterflies: A phylogenomic approach
Nitin R.: Spring 2013 to Spring 2018: Chemistry and Evolution of Aposematism in Butterflies and Other Insects; Chemical Ecology and Larval Host Plant Use of Butterflies; Reproductive Biology of Xanthophryne
Sweety Meel: Fall 2017: Integrated PhD student, NCBS
Ankana Sanyal: August 2016 to December 2017. Population Biology of Mimetic Butterflies
Anuradha Joglekar: September 2014 to December 2016: Biology and Conservation of Indian Butterflies; experiments on mimetic butterflies
Sonu Yadav: August 2015 to May 2016
Vivek Sarkar: August 2013 to July 2015: Evolution, Diversification and Biogeography of Cicadas on the Indian Subcontinent. Now a PhD student in the lab of Manoj Nair at the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun.
Kiran Marathe: August 2013 to July 2015: Evolution, Diversification and Biogeography of Cicadas on the Indian Subcontinent
Zeeshan Mirza: September 2014 to August 2015: Biodiversity Surveys in Tripura, NE India
Rajesh Sanap: September 2014 to August 2015: Biodiversity Surveys in Tripura, NE India
Anupama Prakash: July 2012 to June 2014. Now a PhD student in the lab of Antonia Monteiro at the National University of Singapore
Project Trainees:
Nitin R.: Spring 2013 to 2017: Chemistry and Evolution of Aposematism in Butterflies and Other Insects; Chemical Ecology and Larval Host Plant Use of Butterflies
Tarun Karmakar: June 2012 to September 2016: Biology and Conservation of Indian Butterflies, Research Collection Curation
Rishiddh Jhaveri: May 2014 to February 2016: Buttetrfly Mimicry Rings in the Eastern Himalaya
Pallavi Sharma: June 2012 to April 2013
Gaurav Agavekar: August 2012 to June 2014. Now a student in the NCBS-WCS Masters programme in Wildlife Sciences and Conservation.
Gautham G. S.: August 2013 to November 2014
Rotation Students, Summer Interns and Long-term Interns (Including Masters Thesis Students):
Aayushi Chaudhuri: Summer 2019: Maharaja Sayajirao University Baroda
Akshay J.: Summer 2019: Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, TVM
Kallol Mozumdar: Summer 2019: Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal
Sarvesh Menon: Summer 2019: Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
Sai Guha: Summer 2019: Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
Ronith Urs: Summer 2019: Vidya Niketan School, Bengaluru
Devendra Pratap Singh: Summer 2019: Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
S. Girish Kumar: Fall 2013 to May 2019: Biology of Indian Butterflies
Praveen P.: August to October 2018, NCBS PhD student.
Chandramouli M.: SASTRA University. Evolutionary Assembly of Mimetic Butterfly Communities in the North-eastern India
Aparna P. P.: Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), Cochin. Genetics of Butterfly Wing Patterning
Nupur Diwan: Bangalore University. Genetics of Adaptation.
Muktai Kuwalekar: Summer 2016. St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. Phylogenetics of Indian butterflies; Butterfly Migrations
Medha Rao: Summer 2016. St. Joseph's College, Bengaluru. Chemistry and Evolution of Aposematism in Butterflies and Other Insects
Vinay Sagar: August-October 2016. PhD programme, NCBS.
Shubham Gautam: November 2015 to May 2016. NCBS-WCS Masters Programme in Wildlife Sciences and Conservation. Thermal Ecology of Pieris canidia along an Elevational Gradient in the Western Himalaya
Sushant Potdar: January to May 2016. Masters in Environmental Sciences, TERI University, New Delhi. Thermal Ecology of Pieris canidia along an Elevational Gradient in the Western Himalaya
Piuli Shit: IISER Kolkata. Colour and its Role in Natural and Sexual Selection in Mimetic Butterflies. May-June 2016.
Athira Balakrishnan: Central University of Kerala, Kasargod. Chemistry and Evolution of Aposematism in Butterflies and Other Insects. May-July 2016.
Chandramouli M.: SASTRA University. Chemistry and Evolution of Aposematism in Butterflies and Other Insects. May-July 2016.
Abhinay Arra: NIT Rourkela. Thermal Ecology of Pieris canidia along an Elevational Gradient in the Western Himalaya. May-June 2016.
Vamsi Krishna: Indian Institute of Science, Integrated MSc. May 2015 to May 2016.
Supraja P.: BMS College of Engineering, Bengaluru. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution of Butterflies. July 2015 to April 2016.
Arkajyoti Shome: Pondicherry University. Aposematism in Danainae. May 2015 to May 2016.
Shalini H. D.: January to May 2016.
Brunda Ramanjaneya: Bangalore University, Bengaluru. Behavioural Ecology of Butterflies. January to May 2016.
Tanaya Dhar: January to May 2016. VIT University, Vellore. Molecular Developmental Genetics of Butterfly Wing Patterns. January to May 2016.
Athulya Girish K.: August to October 2015. PhD programme, NCBS. Since January 2016 a PhD student in our lab.
Bhavya Dharmaraaj: August to October 2015. Integrated PhD programme, NCBS.
Soundarya Balaji: May-July 2015. SASTRA University. Studies on Aposematism in Butterflies.
Hariprasath R.: May-June 2015: Loyola College, Chennai. Field Studies of Indian Butterflies.
Tanvi Dutta Gupta: June 2015. Studies on Aposematism in Butterflies.
Arjun Singh: The International School Bengaluru: Colour Pattern Evolution in Butterflies.
Gayatri Narayanan: May-June 2015. Aditi Mallya International School. Studies on Aposematism in Butterflies.
Shivani Sachdev: January to May 2015: Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, Bhubaneshwar. Genetics and Development of Wing Patterns in Papilio Butterflies.
Shantanu Joshi: St. Xaviers, Mumbai: Summer 2014, 2015, Oct-Nov 2016
Sujay B.: IISER Pune: Summer 2014
Apoorva Jasti: IIT Guwahati: Summer 2014
Maria Babu: IISER TVM: Summer 2014
Drisya Dileep: IISER Kolkata: Summer 2014
Jiwasmika Baishya: IISER Kolkata: Summer 2014
Varun Jolly: University of Madras: Summer 2014
Rahul Kumar: IISER Kolkata: Summer 2014
Karthika Rajeev: IISER Mohali: Summer 2014
Sushmita H. K.: MSc Student, Biomedical Genetics, Vellore Institute of Technology: Spring 2014
Ravi Umadi: M. Tech. Student, SRM University: August 2013 to June 2014
Vinaya Sahasrabuddhe: Integrated PhD programme, NCBS: Fall 2013-Spring 2014
Debakshi Mullick: PhD program, NCBS: Fall 2013
Akshay Rao: post-MSc student: Fall 2013
G. S. Girish Kumar: Kendriya Vidyalaya, Jalahalli, Bangalore: Summer 2013 to Fall 2014.
Himanshu Gupta: BSc Student, Delhi University: Summer 2013Priyanka Jamadagni: Integrated MS Student, IISER Mohali: Summer 2013
Manu S.: Integrated MS Student, IISER Mohali: Summer 2013
Ayushi Mishra: Integrated MS Student, IISER TVM: Summer 2013
Anushka Rege: BSc Student, Fergusson College: Summer 2013
Manas Samant: Integrated MS Student, IISER Mohali: Summer 2013
Akhila Machaiah: Bangalore University: Spring 2013
Aswathy Nair: MSc Student, BITS Pilani, Goa: Fall 2012 to Summer 2013. Now a PhD student at the Center for Ecological Sciences, IISc.
Payel Chatterjee: Integrated PhD Program, NCBS: Spring 2013. Now a PhD student in Sanjay San'e lab at NCBS.
Shobhana Rajasenan: BTech student, SRM University: Spring 2013. Now a PhD student at Ohio State University.
Swastika Issar: TERI University: Spring 2013, co-advised by S. Krishnan and Deepa Agashe (NCBS)\
Shalini Kotabagi: MSc Student, Vellore Institute of Technology: Spring 2013
Ebi George: PhD program, NCBS, Fall 2012-Spring 2013. Now in Axel Brockmann's lab at NCBS.
Jyothi VN: PhD program, NCBS, Fall 2012-Spring 2013. Now in Uma Ramakrishnan's lab at NCBS.
Arul Ganesh: IISER Mohali, Summer 2012
Puneet Prabhakar Singh: IISER Thiruvananthapuram, Summer 2012
Anjana Joy: IISER Thiruvananthapuram, Summer 2012
Aswathy J.R.: IISER Thiruvananthapuram, Summer 2012
Avantika P.: IISER Thiruvananthapuram, Summer 2012
Ansuman Sahoo: NISER Bhubaneshwar, Summer 2012
Cigole Thomas: IISER Mohali, Summer 2012
Shreevathsa C.S.: Integrated PhD program, NCBS, Summer 2012
Anupama Prakash: BITS Pilani, Goa, January-June 2012.
Associate or Visiting Scholars and Students:
Ramachandran Kotharambath: Assistant Professor, Government College, Chittoor, University of Calicut, Kerala, 1-28 February 2015: FLAIR Fellow.
Narayani Barve: PhD student, University of Kansas, USA, Fall 2014-Spring 2015: Spatial ecology of butterflies. Now a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Florida, Gainesville, USA.
Vijay Barve: PhD student, University of Kansas, USA, Fall 2014-Spring 2015: Spatial ecology of butterflies; citizen science, biodiversity inventories and conservation. Now a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Florida, Gainesville, USA.
Attiwilli Suman: PhD student, Kavita Iswaran Lab, Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES), Indian Institute of Science (IISc): 2012-2014.
