I am an Assistant Professor of Vertebrate Ecology in the Department of Biology at California State University, Fresno.

I currently have 2 graduate and several undergraduate students working in my lab and in the human-dominated landscapes of California’s Central Valley. I am also co-advising a Ph.D. student working in the Western Ghats of India. I teach several graduate & undergraduate courses described here.

A bit more about me...

I grew up in Ulhasnagar (also known locally as USA!), in the crowded suburbs of Bombay (now Mumbai), and discovered nature through the bulbuls, barbets, pariah kites, and other wonderful creatures that somehow continue to thrive in the interstices of this metropolis. My journey towards becoming an evolutionary ecologist started through discovering, while in college, the writings of Stephen Jay Gould and Charles Darwin. At the same time, Barry Commoner’s The Closing Circle, and Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring brought a growing awareness of humanity’s flawed relationship with nature. I got an actual start in this field as a bird-watcher / naturalist through the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), where Dr. Salim Ali's work inspired me, like it has so many Indian ecologists, although my awakening towards nature was late enough that I never got the chance to see him in person.

I received formal training in wildlife biology at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), a premier institution in Asia, where biologists and wildlife managers collaborate in a dynamic research and teaching program. I studied bird communities in the Kashmir Himalaya for my masters dissertation. During this, I became acutely aware of the sensitive role of conservation biologists amid political strife. Later, I conducted surveys of birds, mammals, and plants in the remote eastern Himalaya, first through WII, and then as a Ph.D. student in the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). These surveys added several new bird species and some significant range extensions to the known record for the region. They also provided the basic data to help establish protected areas in that biodiversity hotspot. I wrote some articles based on my experiences in several Indian publications, and continue to hear from readers concerned about conservation issues in the region.

The Ph.D. program at UCSD strengthened my quantitative skills and theoretical depth in ecology, evolution, and conservation biology. I conducted the first detailed study of the winter ecology of leaf warblers in Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR), southern India. My research provided some of the baseline data for a World Bank funded Eco-development project in KMTR. I also wrote several popular articles which stimulated interest in the problems of smaller, less-charismatic vertebrates. I remain engaged in the research and conservation issues of this reserve—for instance, in 2001, I was instrumental in bringing about and editing a special section highlighting research in KMTR in Current Science (the premier journal of the Indian National Science Academy). I am currently seeking funds for a follow-up project to assess outcomes of Ecodevelopment.

Postdoctoral experience at Princeton expanded my training in using experimental approaches to study the behavioral and endocrine processes underlying vertebrate population dynamics. At the Central Arizona–Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research (CAP LTER) project I established an extensive and long-term monitoring and research program bringing an evolutionary ecological focus to bear on understanding the impact of human activities on birds. I also learnt to collaborate extensively with other physical and social scientists to address the full range of impacts due to urban development.

I have also maintained a strong commitment to addressing wildlife management issues and working with government and non-government agencies. I maintain active collaborations with Indian institutions and conservation projects, even as my recent research has been in the US. In Phoenix, I provided input for policy-making and management by local agencies. I also help train school-teachers to incorporate ecology, evolution, and conservation into school curricula, through CAP LTER’s Ecology Explorers program, and the K-12 Alliance of California. I am developing similar programs in India.

On a more personal note, I am married to Kaberi Kar Gupta, who is about to get her Ph.D. from Arizona State University, and with whom I collaborate on primate behavior research projects. And that includes watching our two daughters Sanzari and Nilavi Aranyak grow up in this mixed up world!