Come work with us
Our lab is always on the lookout for motivated and hardworking students who are eager to learn new tools and techniques and contribute meaningfully to our research. We offer a range of opportunities—from internships to postdoctoral positions. While we prefer students who can commit to at least six months, exceptional candidates may be considered for shorter summer projects. Explore our ongoing research, and get in touch if you’re looking to build your career and grow as a researcher.
Working Philosophy
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Our lab values curiosity, hard work, and sustained motivation above all else. We are looking for students and collaborators who are genuinely interested in understanding ecological and evolutionary processes and who take initiative to learn, explore, and contribute meaningfully. While prior experience is always helpful, it is not a prerequisite—if you can demonstrate exceptional motivation and a genuine interest in the kind of research we do, you are welcome to apply. Every member in the lab begins with guided training, but we expect you to become increasingly independent over time—designing your own questions, making decisions, and contributing to the broader goals of our research.
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For projects involving programming, image analysis, or radar data processing, however, prior experience is essential. These projects require familiarity with computational tools (e.g., R, Python, or MATLAB) and a willingness to engage deeply with data analysis and model development. Students in such projects are expected to reach technical self-sufficiency within the first few months, after which they will work largely independently on their chosen research problem, with regular guidance and feedback.
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At present, we do not have dedicated funding for internships, but students are encouraged to apply for external research grants or fellowships in collaboration with us. We are happy to provide mentorship and institutional support for such applications. All fieldwork and research-related expenses for approved projects are fully covered by the lab. Before applying, please reach out to current lab members to understand the ongoing projects, work environment, and expectations—this helps ensure alignment and clarity for everyone involved.
When applying, please send an email that includes a detailed statement of your research interests, clearly indicating how your ideas connect with the ongoing themes of the lab. Be as specific as possible—describe what genuinely excites you, which questions you hope to explore, and why you think our lab is the right place for that. Your email subject line should clearly state whether you are applying for an internship, a Master’s dissertation, or are interested in developing a postdoctoral proposal together.
We are especially keen to hear from highly motivated postdoctoral candidates who wish to collaborate in developing independent research proposals. If your research interests align with the lab’s focus areas—phylogenetics, macroecology, radar entomology, or AI-based biodiversity monitoring—I would be delighted to work with you on crafting competitive proposals for fellowships such as the ANRF National Postdoctoral Fellowship (NPDF) or other national and international funding schemes. Our lab provides the scientific environment, infrastructure, and mentorship necessary to help early-career researchers establish their independent trajectories.
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Research Opportunities
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Our lab welcomes motivated and hardworking students eager to learn new tools and techniques and contribute meaningfully to our research. We offer a range of opportunities—from internships to postdoctoral projects—and particularly encourage Master’s students seeking dissertation projects in any of our core research areas. While we prefer students who can commit at least six months, exceptional candidates may be considered for shorter summer projects. Explore our ongoing research themes below and get in touch if you’re looking to build your career in ecology, evolution, and biodiversity informatics.
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1. Wet Lab Research: Phylogenetics and Genomics
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Our molecular lab focuses on uncovering the evolutionary history of elusive moth lineages using cutting-edge genomic tools. Students gain experience in primer design, DNA extraction, PCR amplification, NGS library preparation, and Anchored Hybrid Enrichment (AHE)—techniques that enable the recovery of targeted genomic regions for robust phylogenetic reconstruction.
You’ll receive hands-on training in bioinformatics and evolutionary analyses, including sequence assembly, alignment, and species tree inference. Students are encouraged to design independent projects, exploring questions related to diversification, adaptation, or evolutionary relationships across elevational and climatic gradients.
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2. Field Ecology: Sampling in Rugged and Remote Landscapes
Our field projects take place in some of India’s most biodiverse yet logistically challenging ecosystems—the Eastern Himalayas (Arunachal Pradesh) and the Satpura mountain range (Madhya Pradesh). Students engage in nocturnal moth sampling, occasionally extending to other pollinators, using standardized light-trap and bait-trap protocols.
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You’ll learn to link ecological and environmental data—temperature, humidity, artificial light, vegetation structure—to patterns of species richness and abundance. After initial training, students are expected to operate independently, designing their own sampling questions or field experiments. These expeditions demand perseverance, adaptability, and a genuine passion for field ecology.
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3. Image Processing and Morphometrics
We combine ecology with computer vision to quantify biodiversity through images. Building on ongoing ECRG-funded research, students work on image segmentation, feature extraction, and deep-learning classification of moths and other insects. Projects can range from developing automated pipelines for morphometric analysis to building convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for species recognition.
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Students are trained in Python- and R-based image analytics, including tools for photogrammetry, geometric morphometrics, and color pattern quantification. Independent projects may explore macroecological or functional questions using self-generated image datasets, contributing to open AI-assisted biodiversity databases.
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4. Radar Entomology and Computational Ecology
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Our lab is among the few in India developing workflows for radar-based insect monitoring. With access to Silkheda weather radar data, students can explore how radar backscatter reveals the movement and abundance of aerial arthropods.
Projects may involve clutter removal, feature extraction (e.g., reflectivity, velocity, depolarization ratio), and biological–meteorological classification using machine learning. Students may also investigate how environmental drivers such as wind, rainfall, and light intensity influence radar-detected insect activity. This interdisciplinary domain integrates ecology, atmospheric science, and big data analytics.