Ratna

Education

  • PhD Ecology, Indian Institute of Science, Centre for Ecological Sciences, India, 2004-2010.

  • MSc Zoology, University of Calcutta, India, 2001-2003

  • BSc Zoology, University of Calcutta, India, 1999-2001


Professional Experience

  • Assistant Professor, Biological and Life Sciences Division, School of Arts & Sciences, Ahmedabad University, Gujarat, India, 2018-present.

  • Research Associate, University of Minnesota, Dept. of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, St Paul, MN, 2016-2018

  • Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of Minnesota, Dept. of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, St Paul, MN, 2012-2016

Brinky

I am a PhD student in the Ecology and Environment Lab, and I joined the team in August 2019. My doctoral research focuses on understanding ecological adaptation of the Mugger Crocodile populations across three geographically diverse habitats within the state of Gujarat. I did my masters' from BVIEER in wildlife biology, and my dissertation was on understanding human-mugger conflict in the Vadodara district, Gujarat.

Chena

I am a PhD student in the Ecology and Environment Lab, and I joined the lab as a Master's thesis student in 2019 and have joined as a Ph.D. student since 2020. I have completed my integrated Masters in Life Sciences degree from Ahmedabad University. I will be studying the causal relationship between environmental stimuli and ecological processes, in terms of niche occupancy and species interactions, using two congeneric, cichlid species under manipulative, laboratory conditions.

Kartikey

I am a Master’s thesis student in the ecology and environment lab and doing my degree from Ahmedabad university. I joined the lab in 2021 as an undergraduate intern. I am working on understanding habitat characterisitcs and morphological variations across different populations of Etroplus suratensis or Green chromide, an endemic fish to the Indian subcontinent.

Rohith

I am an Integrated Masters of Life Sciences student of Ahmedabad University from 2020. I joined the lab as part of the Undergraduate Research Program in February 2022. I am working on the Mugger project on comparing and contrasting stress levels in free-ranging individuals between Vadodara and Anand regions of Gujarat.

Suman

I am a PhD student in the Ecology and Environment Lab, and I joined the team in August 2019. I am working on invasive fish biology and curious to know about the community-level interactions among exotic and native species. In particular, my research focuses on ecology and management of the exotic sailfin catfish (Pterigoplichtys sp.), native to Amazon rainforest, which has been introduced in India by aquaculture trade. I have completed post graduation in marine biology from Pondicherry University, Port Blair, A & N Islands.

Alumni

Heli Raval, Masters student, submitted thesis on "Understanding shoaling behavior in a freshwater fish - Etroplus maculatus (Orange Chromide)"

Aditi Shah Masters student, submitted thesis on "Understanding choice behaviour in context of novel versus familiar enviornment in a native cichlid fish, Etroplus maculatus"

Nirali Panchal Masters student, submitted thesis on "Non-invasive monitoring of stress physiology in leopards (Panthera pardus) in captivity"