I am an ecologist by training with a strong interest in population structure, its interactions with landscape features, climatic variables, and evolutionary histories of threatened fauna using non-invasive sources of DNA. 

I received my PhD in Wildlife Science from the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. For my doctoral study, I worked on population- and socio-genetics of Asian elephants and modeled elephant habitat use while identifying the ecological determinants of space utilization by employing a sign survey-based approach under the occupancy framework. In addition, I used a combination of questionnaire survey and molecular tracking to understand spatio-temporal and individualistic patterns of crop-raiding, the most common form of human-elephant conflict across south and southeast Asia. During my PhD, I was also involved in three consultancy projects concerning the conservation and management of blackbucks, tigers, and elephants in habitats earmarked for upcoming developmental projects.

I joined Dr. Tigga Kingston and Dr. Caleb Phillips at Texas Tech in July 2023 as a postdoctoral research associate. Currently, I am working with a fantastic team of PhD candidates on integrating population genomics of insectivorous bats, molecular characterization of their diet, and gut microbiome across habitat degradation gradients in Malaysia.