Amitabh CV
Address: Evolutionary Biology Laboratory
Evolutionary & Organismal Biology Unit
Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research
Jakkur P.O., Bangalore 560 064, India.
Designation: Professor
Telephone: (80) 2208 2802 (off) 2208 2803 (lab) 9341354233 (mobile)
Fax: (80) 2208 2766, 2208 2767
Electronic Mail: ajoshi@jncasr.ac.in
Birth: 1965 at Agra (India)
Nationality: Indian
Education:
B.Sc. (Hons.) in Botany, Hindu College, University of Delhi, India, 1986
M.Sc. in Genetics, University of Delhi South Campus, India, 1988
Ph.D. in Genetics and Cell Biology, Washington State University, Pullman, USA, 1993
Ph.D. Thesis: Coevolution and variation in competition between Drosophila species.
Doctoral advisors: John N. Thompson, Michael E. Moody
Post-doctoral Research: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, USA.
Mentor: Laurence D. Mueller
Fellowships/Scholarships:
Univ. of Delhi Undergraduate Science Merit Scholarship, 1982-83, 1984-85.
Univ. of Delhi Postgraduate Scholarship, 1985-86, 1986-87.
Govt. of India Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Junior Research Fellowship, 1987 (declined).
J. N. Tata Scholarship for Higher Education of Indians Abroad, 1987.
UGC Visiting Scientist at the Dept. of Zoology, Gulbarga University 3/10/2000 to 10/10/2000. Taught a series of classes on population genetics.
Professional Experience:
Research Assistant, Dept. of Genetics & Cell Biology, WSU, Pullman, 1987-88.
Teaching Assistant, Dept. of Genetics & Cell Biology and Program in General Biology, WSU, Pullman, 1987-1993.
Post-Doctoral Research Associate in the laboratory of Laurence D. Mueller, Dept. of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Univ. of California, Irvine, 1994-1996.
Visitor at Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Feb.-Mar., 1996.
Faculty Fellow, Animal Behaviour Unit, JNCASR, Bangalore, Apr 1996-Aug 1998.
Faculty Fellow, Evolutionary and Organismal Biology Unit, JNCASR, Bangalore, Aug 1998 – May 2001
Associate Professor, Evolutionary and Organismal Biology Unit, JNCASR, Bangalore, June 2001 - Feb 2007.
Professor, Evolutionary and Organismal Biology Unit, JNCASR, Bangalore, Feb 2007 - present.
Chairman, Evolutionary and Organismal Biology Unit, JNCASR, Bangalore, Sep 2008 – July 2012.
Honours:
Recognised for excellence in teaching by Program in General Biology (1992) and Graduate and Professional Students Association (1993) at WSU, Pullman.
Young Associate of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore (1997-2000).
Invited to contribute to the Nature Publishing Group’s Encyclopedia of Life Sciences (1999).
Invited to deliver the first C. N. R. Rao Award Oration of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore (2000).
Elected Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore (2001).
Fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin (Institute of Advanced Studies, Berlin) March - July, 2001.
Elected Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India, Allahabad (2002).
Associate Member, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore (2006-present).
Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Biological Sciences (2009).
Adjunct Professor, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali (2009-present)
Young Leader in Science & Technology (Laksmipat Singhania National Leadership Awards) for 2010.
Elected Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi (2011).
JC Bose National Fellow (2011-2021).
Prof. Har Swarup Memorial Lecture award of the Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi (2017).
Fellow and Founding Member of the Indian Society of Evolutionary Biologists (2018).
Grants:
Sigma Xi. Grant-in-Aid of Research. 1990. Coevolution and variation in competition between Drosophila species.
DST, Govt. of India. 1998 (Co-PI). Light relations of circadian rhythms in the locomotor activity of Drosophila melanogaster and in a few sympatric species of ants.
DST, Govt. of India. 2000 (PI). Empirical investigation of adaptation to different light regimes in laboratory populations of Drosophila melanogaster.
DST, Govt. of India. 2003 (Co-PI). Towards a realistic model of insect population growth at the single and metapopulation level: Drosophila as a model system.
Editorial and Review Work:
Member, Editorial Board of Resonance: Journal of Science Education, Jan 1997-May, 1998 and Jan 2005 – Dec 2011.
Associate Editor, Resonance: Journal of Science Education, Jun 1998-Dec 2004.
Guest Corresponding Editor, special papers in Journal of Biosciences on the Origin of Life, 1997-1998.
Guest Editor, special issue of Journal of Genetics on 'Evolutionary Genetics: the Drosophila Model', 2003.
Editor, Journal of Genetics, March 2004 - Dec. 2007.
Co-Editor, special issue of Journal of Genetics on 'Evolutionary Genetics: 150 Years of Natural Selection', 2008.
Chief Editor, Journal of Genetics, Jan. 2008 – Dec. 2014.
Member, Editorial Board of International Journal of Evolutionary Biology, Mar 2009 – present.
Member, Editorial Board of Journal of Theoretical Biology, 2009 – 2015.
Member, Editorial Board of Journal of Biosciences, Jan 2010 – 2016.
Editor-of-Publications, Indian Academy of Sciences, Bengaluru, 2017 - 2021.
Member, Editorial Board of Halteres, 2018 – present.
Member, Publications Advisory Board, Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi, 2019 – present.
Ex-Officio Member, Panel on Scientific Values, Indian Academy of Sciences, Bengaluru, 2019 - 2021.
Chief Editor, Journal of Biosciences, Oct. to Dec, 2021.
Outside reviewer for manuscripts/books/book proposals submitted to:
Nature
Science
Evolution
Oikos
Ecology
American Naturalist
Journal of Evolutionary Biology
Evolutionary Ecology Research
Journal of Theoretical Biology
Theoretical Population Biology
Molecular Biology and Evolution
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London: Biological Sciences
Royal Society Open Science
Functional Ecology
Biological Journal of the Linnaean Society
Ecology Letters
Animal Behaviour
Evolutionary Ecology
BMC Evolutionary Biology
BMC Developmental Biology
Journal of Genetics
Genetica
PLoS ONE
Theoretical Ecology
Journal of Heredity
Journal of Insect Behaviour
Ecological Entomology
Frontiers in Zoology
Insect Science
Ethology Ecology and Evolution
Journal of Evolutionary Biology Research
Animal Biology
Current Ageing Science
Journal of Biosciences
Resonance: Journal of Science Education
Current Science
BMC Ecology and Evolution
PLoS Genetics.
Proceedings of Indian National Science Academy: Biological Sciences
Indian Journal of Experimental Biology
Journal of Evolutionary Medicine
National Academy Science Letters
Elsevier
Indian Institute of Science Press
Outside reviewer for research proposals submitted to:
Department of Science and Technology, Govt. Of India
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Govt. of India
Natural Environment Research Council, UK
The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research
Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India
German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development
Indo-US Science & Technology Forum
ESSO-National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (Ministry of Earth Sciences), India
Wellcome Trust -DBT India Alliance.
Other Academic Service:
Member, Screening Committee for Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre Summer Research Fellowship Programme, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003-2019.
Convener, Screening Committee for Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre Summer Research Fellowship Programme, 1999, 2000.
Member, Unit Academic Advisory Committee, Evolutionary & Organismal Biology Unit, JNCASR, Bangalore, 1999-2001.
Coordinator, Genetics Discussion Group, Discussion Meeting on Origin and Evolution of Life, sponsored by the Indian Academy of Sciences and Indian Space Research organization, at Coorg, 2000.
Member, Local Organizing Committee, Association for Tropical Biology - Annual Meeting, 2001, held at Bangalore.
Member, VC's Empowered Committee for Restructuring the Undergraduate Science Programme, Delhi University, 2002-2004.
Member, Planning Committee for DST (SERC) sponsored Indian School in Chronobiology, March - July, 2002.
Co-Organizer, One-Day Symposium on Evolutionary Biology in honour of Stephen Jay Gould, organized at Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, 2002.
Member, Organizing Committee, Workshop on Adaptation and Time, organized at Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, 2002.
Convenor, Lecture Programme in Evolutionary & Organismal Biology, sponsored by Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research and Delhi University, at Delhi, 2002.
Member, DST constituted Expert Consultative Committee for Evolving Areas for Research and Training in Behavioural/Social Sciences using Mathematical Methods, 2004.
Member, Sectional Committee for Animal/Plant Sciences, Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore, 2004-2006.
External Member, Faculty of Science, Delhi University, 2004-2007.
Member, Board of Studies in Genetics (Postgraduate), University of Mysore, 2005-2007.
Co-organizer, Project Oriented Biological Education programme, JNCASR, 2006-2009.
Member, DST Project Advisory Committee (Animal Sciences), 2007-2012.
Member, Curriculum Committee, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali, 2007-2010.
Member, Board of Studies for 5 Year Integrated MSc in Life Sciences, Bangalore University, 2007-2012.
Member, Biology Advisory Body, Poornaprajna Institute of Scientific Research, Bangalore, May 2008-2011.
Member, CSIR-HRDG Animal Sciences and Biotechnology Research Committee, 2008-2011.
Convenor, Organizing Committee, Two-Day Discussion Meeting on Evolutionary Biology in India: Looking Ahead, organized at Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, 2009.
Member, Haryana Vigyan Ratna Awards Selection Committee, 2011, 2013, 2016-2018.
Member, UGC Review Committee for Centre for Advanced Studies in Zoology, Pune University, Pune, 2011-2014.
Member, Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Awards Selection Committee (Biology), 2012, 2014.
Co-organizer, Discussion Meeting on “Foundations of Evolutionary Theory: The Ongoing Synthesis”, organized under the aegis of Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore, at Coorg, February, 2014.
Co-organizer, Discussion Meeting on “Foundations of Biology”, organized at IISER Pune, April, 2015.
Member, Sectional Committee on Animal Sciences, Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi, 2015-2016.
Member, Research Advisory Committee, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram (IISER-TVM), 2015.
Co-organizer, Discussion Meeting on “Foundations of Biology”, organized at IISER Pune, March, 2016.
Member, Fellowship Scrutiny Committee (Biological Sciences), National Academy of Sciences, India, Allahabad, 2016.
Co-organizer, Discussion Meeting on “Foundations of Biology”, organized under the aegis of Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore, at Coorg, February, 2017.
Convenor, Sectional Committee on Animal Sciences, Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi, 2017.
Co-organizer, Discussion Meeting on “Foundations of Biology”, organized at Chindi (H.P.), April, 2018.
Member, Executive Council, Indian Society of Evolutionary Biologists, 2018-2024.
Member, Planning Committee, SERB Schools on Evolutionary Biology 2018-2020.
Member, Publications Advisory Board, Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi, 2019-present.
Co-organizer, SPEEC-UP, student meeting on ecology, evolution and conservation, organized at JNCASR, Bengaluru.
Member, Inter-Academy Group for drafting National Policy guidelines on Scientific Publication, 2019.
Co-organizer, First SERB School on Evolutionary Biology, held at JNCASR, 2019.
Co-organizer, ISEB1: Celebrating Ecology and Evolution in India, organized at JNCASR, Bengaluru, 2019.
Co-organizer, ISEB2: Indo-Swiss Meeting on Evolutionary Biology, organized at Centre for Human Genetics, Bengaluru, 2019.
Member, Sectional Committee on Evolution Ecology Behaviour and Systematics of Plants Animals and Microbes, Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi, 2020.
Co-organizer, Discussion Meeting on “Foundations of Biology”, organized at Ashoka University, Sonipat, February, 2020.
Invitee, CCMB Research Council (Aug 2021; March 2022).
Co-organizer, Discussion Meeting on “Foundations of Biology”, organized at Evolve Back, Coorg, February, 2023.
Co-organizer, Workshop on Public Policy x Evolution, jointly organized by Takshashila Institute and Indian Society of Evolutionary Biologists at Bangalore, 10-12 March, 2023.
Graduate Courses Taught at JNCASR, Bangalore:
JE 201: Population & Quantitative Genetics, 3 credits (each year).
JE 203: Introduction to Population Dynamics, 3 credits (each year).
JE 204: Basic Quantitative Tools in Biology, 3 credits (till 2015). (co-taught with Prof. V. K. Sharma).
JE 212: Introduction to Evolution and Diversity of Life-forms, 2 credits (2012-15; 2020). (co-taught with Dr. T. N. C. Vidya).
JE 213: Introduction to Statistical Hypothesis Testing, 3 credits. (from 2017). (co-taught with Dr. T. N. C. Vidya).
JE 301: Evolutionary Genetics of Fitness, 3 credits (each year).
JE 209: Laboratory Course in Evolutionary Biology, 4 credits (2010-2015, and for MS PhD from 2020).
JE 214: Laboratory Course in Population Ecology (for MS-PhD), 4 credits (from 2019).
JE 201: Introduction to Population Genetics, Aug-Dec Semester, 2001. This was the first course ever taught in JNCASR, starting 1996.
Sitting, L to R: Shailesh Kumar, Sharmila Bharathi Natarajan, Shahnaz Rahman Lone and C R Akarsh