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 am currently an Associate at the Centre for Science Communication and Outreach, The Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMSc), Chennai. I am deeply involved in bringing out their monthly newsletter, where I write about research spanning disciplines, events, and the larger campus community. I often slip in stories about the natural world, which are an absolute joy to write and feed the ecologist in me. Find the latest edition in my writing page and do subscribe if you like what you see. I also chip in towards IMSc's outreach activities aimed at school and college students, and its many events in public engagement.
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 my popular science articles in the writing page, 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.