Themes of research

Landscape ecology
and conservation

Landscapes around us are changing rapidly. We need to understand these changes and its impacts on biodiversity. We are creating detailed maps and documenting landscape change with satellite imageries to create the backbone of further research. We also examine the impacts of landscape features on the occurrence, persistence, movement, disease and connectivity of different species.
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Bird evolution and biogeography

Biodiversity is created by a complex interplay of historic climate and geographic barriers such as mountains and river valleys. We are examining patterns of such speciation in birds with genetic data from across peninsular India. We hope to uncover drivers of speciation, answer long-standing hypotheses in biogeography and describe cryptic species in these landscapes. 
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BIOAcoustics and BehavIour

Acoustic signals such as bird calls and songs can be considered as cultural signals, and can be used to study behaviour. Targeted hand-held recordings of individuals help us understand patterns of song evolution in select species; while automated recorders across environmental gradients help in gathering sounds across a larger landscape over a longer period of time - from months to years.
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Citizen Science and Outreach

India offers a rich interface of high population density and biodiversity. With the growing rates of urbanisation and increase in agricultural areas, research at this interface zone will be valuable to understand the effects on biodiversity. We hope to build capacity among citizens to document biodiversity across human and natural landscapes.
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We are a group motivated by bird ecology and use various tools and techniques to understand different aspects of ecology and evolution. The lab group is based at IISER Tirupati, but consists of members engaging in various capacities - field assistants working on field, collaborators contributing critical expertise, interns and students from IISER and outside. Full team is here. We work across the Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats and peninsular India, with hopes to start working in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Highlights of our research in the media is here. Opportunities to engage with the lab are here. ​
​All photos  are by Prasenjeet Yadav (except in Gallery or if indicated) through a collaborative project described here.

Montane Shola Forest

Black and Orange Flycatcher

Chilappan and Sholicola museum specimens

V V Robin and CK Vishnudas

White bellied Sholicola

Nilgiri Pipit

Palani Chilappan

Mistnetting

Field data collection

White-bellied Sholakili

Velvet fronted Nuthatch

Collecting morphometric data

Jungle Owlet

Nilgiri Sholakili