People

Dr. Anindita Bhadra, Associate Professor, IISER Kolkata

Anindita Bhadra is an Associate Professor and Associate Dean of International Relations and Outreach at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata. She is a behavioural biologist, who joined IISER Kolkata in June 2009 and established the Dog Lab. She was the founding chairperson of the Indian National Young Academy of Science and is a member of the executive committee of the Global Young Academy. Apart from her engagement in research, teaching and science outreach, she is a thespian, being engaged with the theatre group mukhOsh.

Twitter: @Abhadra7 .

Blog : kathaykathay

Awards and honours

K. S. Rao Memorial Award from Vivekananda College, Kolkata for holding first rank in the Department of Zoology of the college in the B.Sc examination, November 1999.
INSA medal for young scientist in Animal Sciences, 2009.
Featured among 10 Indian scientists of the decade selected by The Telegraph, India (1st January, 2010).
Featured in the “Spotlight on” section of the ISBE newsletter, Vol 22, issue 2 (2011).
SERB Women Excellence Award, 2013, awarded by SERB, DST, Govt. of India.
Selected as young Indian delegate at the BAS-TWAS-ROCASA workshop on Initiatives in Science Education, Research and Capacity building, held at Dhaka, Bangladesh, 14-15 September 2013.
Selected as a Life Member of the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World, TWAS.
Invited to participate as a young scientist the in the Commonwealth Science Conference organized by the Royal Society, UK and the Government of India, at Bangalore, India, 25-28 November 2014.
Selected as founding member of the Indian National Young Academy of Science by INSA, May 2015.
Selected as IAP Young Scientist 2015.
Affiliate Faculty Member, Dept of Animal and Rangeland Sciences, Oregon State University, USA.
Selected as a member of GYA, 25th January 2016.
Selected as Member, Standing Consultative Committee of Young Scientists formed by the Chief Scientific Advisor to the Govt. of India (December 2017).
Awarded the prestigious Janaki Ammal - National Women Bioscientist award, 2020-2021.

Teaching Experience

Teaching assistant to Prof. Raghavendra Gadagkar for two years in the course Sociobiology and Animal Behaviour.
Co-ordinator for practicals in the DST sponsored workshop on “Methods in Behavioural Ecology” organized by Prof. Gadagkar at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, in 2004 and 2006.
Co-instructor at the UGC-funded workshop on “Evolutionary Approach in the studies of Ecology and Behaviour” organized by the Vivekananda College, Kolkata in 2005.
Training of many summer students, juniors and visitors at Prof. Gadagkar’s lab from 2002 to 2009.
Resource person for the UGC-NRCBS School on Animal Behaviour & Chronobiology at the Madurai Kamaraj University, Aug 28th to Sept 11th, 2009.
Undergraduate theory course on Evolution at IISER-K, 2009 - 2018.
Undergraduate theory course on Communication Skills at IISER-K in 2009 and 2010.
Undergraduate level lab course on Animal Behaviour at IISER-K in 2010.
Undergraduate level theory course on Organismal Biology (Introductory Biology) at IISER-K in 2014.
Undergraduate level theory course on Introduction to Biology (Cell Biology) at IISER-K in 2015.
Undergraduate level lab course on Evolution at IISER-K in 2017 and 2018.
Undergraduate level lab course on Biodiversity and data visualization at IISER-K in 2018.
Postgraduate level lab course on Ecology at IISER-K in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017.
Postgraduate level lab course on Animal Behaviour at IISER-K in 2013, 2014.
Postgraduate level lab course on Ecology and Animal Behaviour at IISER-K in 2018.
Postgraduate level theory course on Cognition at ISIER-K in 2013 - 2018.
Guest lectures at postgraduate level course on Communication in the living world at IISER-K in 2010.
Guest lectures in postgraduate level course on movement and motion at IISER-K in 2010.
Guest lectures in postgraduate level course on evolutionary dynamics at IISER-K in 2012.
Evolution – dialoguing between disciplines, a workshop course for undergraduates at CUJ, Jharkhand, 2012.
Guest lectures on animal behaviour at the Department of Zoology, WBSU, 2010.
Guest lectures on animal behaviour and ecology at the Department of Zoology, University of Calcutta, 2012.
Guest lecture on Research Methodologies at the Department of Zoology, WBSU, 2015.

Positions held

Junior Research Fellow of the CSIR (2001 – 2003).
Senior Research Fellow of the CSIR (2003 – 2006).
Research Associate at CES, IISc (DBT) (Nov 2007 to June 2009).
IISER Fellow at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata (June 2009 – March 2014).
Assistant Professor (on contract) at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata (March 10th 2014 – February 21st 2016).
Assistant Professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata (February 22nd 2016 – 28th March 2019).
Associate Professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata (29th March 2019 – present).
Founding Chairperson, INYAS (June 2015 – February 2018).
Nodal Officer and Coordinator for the Eastern region, Identification and Mentoring of Gifted Children in Mathematics and Science, a Program of the office of the Chief Scientific Advisor to the Govt. of India (2017 – present).
Editor, Connections, The GYA Magazine (May 2018 – May 2019).
Member of the Executive Committee, Global Young Academy (May 2019-June 2020).
Associate Dean of International Relations and Outreach, IISER Kolkata (Nov 2019 - ).

Committee memberships

Secretary of the Syllabus making Sub-committee of the Evolution meeting to be held in 2009 to celebrate 150 years of Darwinism (2008-2009).
Instructor, curriculum development program for Integrated Science Education at the Central University Jharkhand, Ranchi, conducted by the Higher Education Cell, Bangalore (2012).
Member of the three-member committee appointed by President, INSA, to draft a proposal for the establishment of the first Indian National Young Academy of Science (May 2014). The proposal for INYAS was sanctioned by the INSA Council on Dec 20th, 2014.
Founding Chair, INYAS.
External member, MS thesis committee of Ms. Lauren Brubaker, Dept. of Animal and Rangeland Science, Oregon State University, USA.
Member, expert committee to discuss funding in basic research formed by President, INSA, October 2016.
GYA selection committee member, 2016 - 2018.
Co-leader for the Working Group on Science Education for the Youth, GYA (May 2016 – May 2019).
Member, Standing Consultative Committee of Young Scientists formed by the Chief Scientific Advisor to the Govt. of India (December 2017 – present).
Member, Program Organizing Committee, GYA AGM 2018 in Pattaya, Thailand.
Co-leader for the Incubation project on Science Diplomacy in South Asia, GYA (January 2018 – May 2019).
Organizing committee member, LEAP India program hosted by IISER Kolkata, funded by MHRD (2018-19).
GYA YSAP selection committee member, 2018 and 2019.
Member, Program Organizing Committee of the Worldwide Meeting of Young Academies, Vietnam, July 2019.
Chair, Local Organizing Committee of the Global Young Academy AGM 2020 to be held in India.

Post Doc fellow :

Dr. Rubina Mondal

Rubina is a postdoctoral research scholar at the Dog Lab. Aimed with the WALTHAM Foundation Grant 2021, she wants to look at the welfare and behavior of free-ranging dogs in animal rescue shelters in India. She is interested to understand the patterns of shelter intakes, predictors of adoption, and in-house and in-shelter behavior in dogs. She wants to understand the perspectives of human-dog interaction and drive her research to applications for better functioning shelters and more responsible pet ownership in India. Love for animals and outdoors made Rubina get B.Sc. (Calcutta University) and M.Sc. (Banaras Hindu University) in Zoology followed by Ph.D. in ecology (IISER Kolkata). She studied freshwater fish communities and the underlying ecological principles and mechanisms for her doctoral dissertation. Concurrently she spent half her time after the dogs in and around the campus, ensuring their well-being or medical aid or simply goofing with them. Rubina likes the peace of solitude, good food, and canine company. Travel and online streaming services are other contributors to her sanity.

Graduate students:

Rohan Sarkar

Rohan studied Biology, specialising in Biotechnology from St.Xavier’s College. For his masters dissertation, he investigated the feeding habits of free-ranging dogs. After the completion of his masters, he stayed back at Dog lab and formally joined as a PhD student in 2018.
He investigates the behavioural, cognitive, and physiological adaptations that accompanied the domestication process in canids. To that end, he has continued working on their feeding ecology as he believes that acquiring food is one of the linchpins in better understanding the self-domestication hypothesis and requires complex decision making on the part of dogs. As of now, his field experiments are designed to shed light on how free-ranging dogs think and act to cope and thrive in their day-to-day interactions with humans.
If not in the field, he can be found behind a book or in the dojo.Twitter: https://twitter.com/SarkarRohan1ResearchGate:https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rohan Sarkar

Sourabh Biswas

Nature has got him into Biology. Especially, peculiarity of animal behaviour excites him, baffles him and makes him think about the evolutionary significance of such behaviours . Sourabh joined the lab in January,2019. Currently he is a PhD student here, trying to understand how free-ranging dogs form and maintain their territories in human dominated landscapes. He is studying the intra- and inter- group dynamics to understand territorility in free-ranging dogs. He is an ardent and regular nature watcher. He is into macro photography and loves to chase butterflies. Travelling and gardening keep him boosted. He is also fond of music, sports and books!
BSc in Zoology from Barasat Govt. CollegeMSc in Zoology from West Bengal State University
Email id: sourabh03biswas@gmail.comsb18rs107@iiserkol.ac.inResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sourabh_Biswas3

Dishari Dasgupta

Dishari did her B.Sc and M.Sc in Zoology from Maulana Azad College. She later on worked as a Project fellow in Environmental Science Department, University of Calcutta. She joined the Dog lab in 2021 to pursue her PhD. She is interested in exploring the urban adaptation and interspecific interactions between free ranging langurs, dogs and humans. If not working, she is mostly found in places that has several cats roaming around as she is a cat mom herself and is also found in areas that serve delicious food as she is always hungry!Mail id : dishari.1992@gmail.com dd21rs028@iiserkol.ac.in Researchgate: : https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dishari-DasguptaTwitter : @DishariDg

Srijaya Nandi

Srijaya did her B. Sc. in Zoology from Lady Brabourne College, University of Calcutta. She did her M.Sc. in Environmental Science from Visva-Bharati. Her love for behavioural ecology inspired her to join the Dog Lab as a PhD student in September, 2021.
From her very childhood, she has been watching free-ranging dogs give birth and puppies grow in her little backyard. She has also been in love with nature and animal behaviour in particular. She is dreaming of adding a few bits of information to the social bonding existing between humans and free-ranging dogs. She enjoys singing, writing and gardening at her leisure.

Mail id : sn21rs025@iiserkol.ac.in

Arpan Bhattacharyya

Arpan did his B.Sc. in Zoology from Maulana Azad College, University of Calcutta (2016-2019) and M.Sc. in Zoology with Molecular and Human Genetics specialization from Banaras Hindu University (2019-2021). Right from the beginning of M.Sc., he got attracted towards classical zoology, animal behaviour and ecology and it was his special paper that incorporated the interest in evolution. His favorite quote is T. Dobzhansky’s- “ Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution”. With this starting idea he decided to explore the aspects of animal behaviour in the light of evolution. Joined the Dog lab as Ph.D. student in Autumn 2021. Interested in diverse aspects of the model-animal: free-ranging dogs, ranging from their territoriality, aggressive behaviour, conflict with humans, interactions with other widely distributed canids, etc. Other than studies, he is interested in photography, article writing and illustration/sketching.Mail:ab21rs003@iiserkol.ac.in arpanbhattachariya@gmail.com ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Arpan-Bhattacharyya-4

Tuhin Subhra Pal

Tuhin completed his integrated BS-MS dual degree in Life Science (2017-2022) from IISER Kolkata and did his MS Thesis (2021-2022) in the Dog Lab. He gained valuable hands-on research experience during his Master's thesis. He was excited to continue exploring the mysteries of animal behaviour, and he knew that he was in the right place to do so. Tuhin's dreams became a reality when he joined the Dog Lab once again in August 2022, this time as a PhD candidate.
He is conducting his investigation into the food acquisition strategies and decision-making abilities of Free-ranging dogs. The focus of this research is to gain a deeper understanding of how these dogs survive and thrive in their natural environment, particularly with regard to their ability to locate and obtain food from different environments.
Outside of his studies, he has a variety of interests including writing, photography, video production and editing, and playing video games.
Mail id:tsp22rs044@iiserkol.ac.intuhinsubhrapal2015@gmail.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/Tspal01ResearchGate:https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tuhin-Pal-4

Anamitra Roy

After braving the BS-MS coursework, Anamitra finally joined the dog lab for his MS thesis. He is currently concerned with canine color cognition and eventually wishes to have a significant impact towards conservation of nature and natural resources. When not watching dogs, he is probably busy watching birds, stars, and Critical Role.Mail id: ar17ms136@iiserkol.ac.inResearchGate:https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Anamitra-Roy

Sharmistha Majhi

I completed my B. Sc in zoology from Charu Chandra College and M. Sc in zoology from Gurudas College, University of Calcutta. From the very beginning of my city-life, I have been wondering how some animals live more successfully in urban and show quite different behaviours from our rural area. Does behavioural adaptation play critical role in their fitness? Taking this interest, I joined Dog Lab of IISER Kolkata as an intern in June, 2022 and finally joined as a PhD student in August, 2023.

Besides study, I love cooking, gardening and exploring lofi music.

Email : Sharmisthamajilp@gmail.com

Sm23rs007@iiserkol.ac.in

Mousumi Chakraborty

Mousumi completed her BSc. from Acharya Narendra Dev College, Delhi University. She joined IISER-Kolkata as an I-PhD Student. In 2023, she joined Dog Lab as a PhD student. She is curious about vocalization and gestures used for communication among dogs. Apart from her interest in research she is passionately involved in knitting, dancing and she loves to read books. She is also a regional player in kho-kho.

Mail ID: mc21ip020@iiserkol.ac.in

Kalyan Ghosh

I have completed my B.Sc. in Zoology from Katwa college and Masters’ in Zoology from The University of Gour Banga. I love nature and exploring which lead me to this Behavioural Ecology field. I have joined dog lab an intern in July 2021 and finally joined as a PhD in Dec 2023. My interest is in Dog mating related behaviours including their association, group dynamics in context of mating.

Alumni

PhDs

Dr. Manabi Paul

Doctorate, 2017

Manabi is currenty a DST-INSPIRE Faculty at the Dept. of Environmental Sciences, Univ. of Calcutta and is working on the eco-ethology of urban-adapted primates. She joined the Dog Lab in 2010 as a Project fellow. She was instrumental in laying the foundation of the lab, along with Sreejani Sen Majumder. Manabi registered for a PhD in 2012 and worked on parental care in free-ranging dogs. She worked on several themes of research simultaneously - Parental care, conflict - cooperation dynamics, group distribution characteristics, denning habits - to name a few. She is an artist and likes spending her free time in drawing, painting and craft-work.
Email id: manabii.paul@gmail.com

Dr. Debottam Bhattacharjee

Doctorate, 2020

Debottam is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Utrecht University. He received the prestigious Marie Sklodowka Curie fellowship for his post doctoral studies. He did his BSc and MSc both in Zoology from Presidency College, Kolkata (2008-13). He has always been interested in the field of animal behaviour and this eventually led him to join the Dog Lab (IISER Kolkata) as a PhD student in 2014. His research interest greatly lies in understanding the behavioural adaptations of free ranging dogs which facilitate the coexistence of dogs with humans in the urban environments. Understanding the free-ranging dog-human relationship is thus of paramount importance which can tell us a lot about how dogs have co-evolved with humans. His research questions are broad and interdisciplinary (behavioural and cognitive) – from natural history to social cognition. Apart from research, he likes hiking, trekking, exploring different places, and playing videogames. Twitter: https://twitter.com/debottam1991ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Debottam_BhattacharjeePersonal-Homepage: http://dbcognition.co.in

Dr. Arunita Banerjee

Doctorate, 2021

Arunita graduated in Life Sciences from the University of Delhi and joined IISER Kolkata as an Integrated PhD student. She joined the Dog Lab in May, 2016 for her MS dissertation, and eventually decided to continue as a PhD student.Her research interest lies in the unifying laws of the universe, which instill order in chaos, akin to patterns in randomized data. She works on the behavioural patterns of Indian free-ranging dogs, and aims to draw statistical parallels with linguistics and other power-law distributions. She is also interested in exploring other linguistic features - like the presence of syntax or small-world networks, within behaviour.
She seamlessly transits between procrastination and multi-tasking. Alongside her research, she dabbles in science communication, outreach activities, film-making, hiking, art and advocacy. She is a borderline activist for human rights and takes keen interest in socio-political issues. She is also the co-founder and current chief editor of Cogito - an IISER-K scicomm initiative. She aspires to build a career in science journalism, with emphasis on the science and society paradigm, and scientific influence on national and international policies.
Email: ab15ip009@iiserkol.ac.in arunitabanerjee013@gmail.comTwitter: @Arunita_13ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Arunita_Banerjee

Former Project Fellow

Shubhra is currently pursuing his PhD at Masaryk University, Czech Republic and working on persistence of colour polymorphism in lizards. He completed B.Sc in Zoology and M.Sc in Environmental Science from University of Calcutta. His interest in animal behaviour was sparked during his MS dissertation, post which, he joined the Dog lab in January, 2015 as a project fellow.
Thus began the journey of the most dedicated field-scientist of the Dog Lab. He went on to work on a wide range of ongoing projects - parental care, parent-offspring conflict, food-choice tests, dog-human interactions, urban adaptations, solvable and unsolvable tasks, other cognitive abilities, social dynamics of dog-groups - are a few among those. With experience grew his expertise and his love for dogs and animal behaviour, has still kept him glued to the lab. He is currently working on an extensive pan-India survey to monitor free-ranging dog distributions in our country. He is also interested in exploring the importance of olfactory and visual cues when it comes to scavenging in free-ranging dogs, through the theories of xenophobia and neophilia.
Apart from research, he likes travelling and photography. He prefers being a trekker and not a tourist. Wherever he goes, his camera accompanies. His travel and wildlife photographs have often been featured in national and international platforms. He is especially interested in documentary photography and hopes to excel in that field.
Contact: shubhrasau007@gmail.com ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Shubhra_Sau 500px: https://500px.com/shubhraacinonyxsau