I joined NCF in November 2007. My research is centered on understanding spatiotemporal patterns in large mammal distributions in the Western Ghats and the processes underlying observed changes in these patterns. The work so far has revealed important patterns in the distribution and abundance of large mammals over time. Yet, there remains much to understand about the processes that are driving the patterns. My present focus is on modeling large mammal occupancy dynamics over space and time as a function of landscape and environmental predictors, anthropogenic threats and, life-history traits.

I am currently a Ph.D. Candidate in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at the University of Florida, Gainesville. For my doctoral dissertation, I am investigating the impact of logging and rainforest fragmentation on animal behavior and species interactions. Specifically, I am testing hypotheses pertaining to: (i) the responses of breeding songbirds to perceived predation risk, (ii) frugivore-fruit mutualistic interactions and, (iii) post-dispersal seed predation. I work in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo at the field sites of the Stability of Altered Forest Ecosystems (S.A.F.E.) Project.

Previously, I was a researcher with the All India Tiger Monitoring Project at the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun (2004-05) and worked in Kanha, Pench and Satpura Tiger Reserves in Madhya Pradesh. Thereafter, during 2006-07, I worked with the Wild Rescue Program at the Wildlife Trust of India in New Delhi.