People
Bodhisatta Nandy (Bodhi)
Ancestrally from Kolkata, West Bengal. I graduated from the University of Calcutta with B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Zoology. Then I moved to Mohali, Punjab to complete my PhD in Evolutionary Biology under the mentorship of Prof. N. G. Prasad, IISER Mohali. After a brief postdoc stint with Prof. Amitabh Joshi at JNCASR, Bangalore, I moved to Department of Zoology, Banaras Hindu University and took up my first faculty position (DST-INSPIRE Faculty). Since 2016 October, I am a faculty member at the IISER Berhampur.
Apart from being the founding member of the Department of Biological Sciences, I am currently heading the department. I am also serving the role of Dean/Faculty-in-charge, Student Affairs.
Extremely passionate about Evolution and Ecology, I am more conventional and classical Evolutionist - mostly find interest in organismal level work. Love teaching. Love playing - cricket, football etc.
You can reach me at: nandy@iiserbpr.ac.in
Subhasish Haldar (Ph.D. student, Funding: UGC JRF)
email: subhasish@iiserbpr.ac.in
Joined: January 2018
Completed: July 16, 2024
Ancestrally belongs to Krishnanagar, West Bengal. Did his Masters from BHU in Zoology. He is interested in understanding the role of spatial heterogeneity of an organism's ecology on the evolution of life history and reproductive traits.
Thesis title: "Evolutionary ecology of sex-biased dispersal in relation to spatial structuring of habitat: an experimental investigation using Drosophila melanogaster laboratory island population"
Rabi Sankar Pal (Ph.D. student, Funding: Institute fellowship)
email: rabisp@iiserbpr.ac.in
Joined: August 2019
A trained field Biologist, Rabi is working on mating behaviour and physiology of Parthenium beetles. He is trying to understand why do these beetles show their very interesting "long copulations", and why a potent biocontrol (i.e., the beetle) of the Parthenium has failed to regulate the overgrowth of the Parthenium weed.
Smita Adhikary (Ph.D. student, Funding: DST-INSPIRE)
email: smitaa@iiserbpr.ac.in
Joined: August 2022
A native of West Bengal. Did her M.Sc. from West Bengal State University in Zoology before joining IISER Berhampur for her Ph.D. She was granted DST-INSPIRE fellowship. Interested in sexual conflict and gender load.
Fly-work is laborious
Pajeb, Satya, Saubhik, Purbasha
Summer visitor
(....not to the lab, fortunately) - Indian cobra
Very hungry and angry visitor
A frequent scene in the lab
Summer visitor - 2
After moving in to the new lab
Saubhik, Purbasha, Tanya, Harish, Shubhasish, Satya, Anushka, Ashmita
Beach trip
Shubhasish, Tuba, Purbasha, Swarnabha
Observations are never dull if you have happy people around
Shubhasish, Tanya, Lipali, Harish
The entire team of 2016 (@Dept. Zoology, Banaras Hindu University)
From left:
Shubhasish Halder (Ph.D. student)
Tanya Verma (Ph.D. student)
BN
Purbasha Dasgupta (Ph.D. student)
Akankshya Aparupa Das (Alumnus)
Saubhik Sarkar (Project Assistant)
Summer of 2017: the entire team during summer dinner
From left:
1. BN; 2. Debopriya (IISER Bpr); 3. Altamash (BHU); 4. Purbasha; 5. Tanya; 6. Haris (IISER Bpr); 7. Anish (IISER Bpr); 8. Amisha (IISER Mohali)
Missing out in action: Deepti
Alumni:
Dr. Syed Zeeshan Ali (Postdoc, 2017-18). Presently, postdoc at Syrcuse University, with Prof. Scot Pitnick
Dr. Ranjit Kumar Sahu, (Postdoc, 2019-20). Presently, DST-INSPIRE Faculty at CCMB - LACONES
Dr. Purbasha Dasgupta, (PhD student, 2017-2023). Presently, postdoc at Brown University, USA.
Tuba Rizvi (2018, Summer intern)
Pajeb Saha (2018, Summer intern)
Asmita Basu (2018, Summer intern)
Saubhik Sarkar (2015-16: Masters dissertation, BHU; 2018 Summer: Project Assistant, IISER Berhampur)
Akankshya Aparupa Das (2015-16, Masters dissertation, BHU)
Ritu Vishwakarma (2015-16, Masters dissertation, Purvanchal Univ.)
Monidipa Malakar (2016-17, Masters dissertation, BHU)
Amisha Agrwala (2017, Summer intern, IISER Mohali)
Md. Altamash (2017, Summer intern, BHU)
Deepti, Anish, Debopriya (Summer interns 2017, IISER Berhampur)
Anitta Cherian (2021, Project Assistant)
Anirban Bhowmik, IISER berhampur; Sramana Kar, St. Xavier's Univ., Kolkata [2021-2022]
Anupam Barman, Kunmun Naik, Simran Sethi, Nidhuna Vincant, IISER berhampur [2022-2023]
First graduates from the lab
Convocation 2021
Gokul, Anish, Bodhi and Debapriya (from left)
Tampara Lake
Mini lab party at Bodhi's place
Subhasish, Robi, Tanya, Purbasha, Shibashish, Sumana and Bodhi (from left)
Somewhere near Berhampur - lab trip post lockdown
Graduated Ph.D. students:
Purbasha Dasgupta (Alumnus, CSIR fellow)
First to graduate with a PhD degree from the lab, and also the first ever student to get a Ph.D. degree from IISER Berhampur
Joined: August 2017; Graduated: 2023
Thesis title: "Survival and reproduction under dietary adversities: An investigation on the role of female reproductive adaptation and intergenerational paternal effect using Drosophila melanogaster laboratory populations"
Current position: Post-doctoral fellow, Brown University, USA.
Tanya Verma (Alumnus, Institute fellow)
Thesis title: "Too fast but not furious: An investigation of sexual selection and sexual conflict in populations of Drosophila melanogaster evolved for faster
development, and early reproduction"
Joined: August 2017, Thesis submitted: May 2023
Current position: Post-doctoral fellow, University of Winipig, Canada.