Hello!

Welcome to my website. I love writing about the delight and wonder of science and the stories of the people behind it for a general audience. I recently started a new position as a Science Communication Officer at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad.

Previously, I was a Project Associate at the Centre for Science Communication and Outreach, The Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMSc), Chennai. Here, I was deeply involved in starting a monthly newsletter, where I wrote about research spanning disciplines, events, and the larger campus community. I also chipped in towards outreach activities aimed at school and college students, and IMSc's many events in public engagement. Apart from research, I have also written stories about the biodiversity, environment and climate which feed the ecologist in me. You will find my popular science articles in my writing page. 

Before experimenting with full-time writing, I was a researcher in ecology and evolutionary biology with a PhD from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and a postdoc from the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad. I was (and continue to be) interested in understanding processes shaping connectivity, distribution and diversity of organisms in their natural habitat. In the past, I have used invertebrates to ask research questions, as they offer an incredibly diverse and tractable study system to understand ecological and evolutionary processes. I enjoy thinking about natural communities in vast land- and seascapes, making maps, playing with data, coding, and writing. You can find summaries of my science in my research page and analytical resources in my code page.

You can get in touch with me by email at bharti [dot] dharapuram [at] gmail.com.