Uma Ramakrishnan

Uma Ramakrishnan is an Indian molecular ecologist working as an assistant professor at National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore. Her research investigates population genetics and evolutionary history of mammals in the Indian subcontinent, including work to save India’s tigers.[1] She is the first Indian to receive the Parker-Gentry Award.[2][3] In July 2019, she was elected as a fellow to the Indian National Science Academy[4].

Uma Ramakrishnan
NationalityIndian
Alma materPhD, University of California, San Diego Postdoc, Stanford University
OccupationAssistant Professor
AwardsParker-Gentry Award
Websitehttps://www.ncbs.res.in/faculty/uma-research

Education

Ramakrishnan did a Bachelor of Science in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics and a Master's in biotechnology.[5] She subsequently received a PhD from the University of California, San Diego, following which she was a postdoc at Stanford University.

Research and career

Ramakrishnan joined NCBS in 2005 as an assistant professor. Her lab has developed methods to conduct population monitoring and landscape/population genetics with tiger fecal samples.[6] Her research has been published in scientific journals Science[7], Molecular Biology and Evolution[8], Biological Conservation[9][10], Scientific Reports[11] and Conservation Genetics.[12] Her previous projects include work on contrasting population structure between commensal and wild rodents, and understanding drivers of diversification in montane bird communities in the Western Ghats. [6]

Ramakrishnan has worked with the tiger expert and former director of Wildlife Conservation Society- India, K. Ullas Karanth. Together with Karanth, Ramakrishnan's lab used genetic sampling to estimate the tiger population in Bandipur National Park.[13] Her research on the connectivity of tiger populations in Central India was presented in court to stay the widening of NH7 which cuts across the Kanha-Pench corridor.[14] Although the highway has been opened, a conservation NGO has cited the study by Ramakrishnan and her team to push for an mitigation structure to allow for animal movement across the highway.[15]

Awards and honours
  • Ramanujan Fellowship, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India (2010)[16]
  • Parker/Gentry Award by Field Museum, Chicago [17]
  • Senior Research Visiting Fellow, Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore (2011)[16]
  • Outstanding Scientist Award, Department of Atomic Energy (2012)[16]
  • Fellow, Indian National Science Academy (INSA)[18]

Publications
  • Commensalism facilitates gene flow in mountains: a comparison between two Rattus species
  • Identifying species, sex and individual tigers and leopards in the Malenad-Mysore Tiger Landscape, Western Ghats, India - Mondol, S., Kumar, N.S., Gopalaswamy, A. et al. Conservation Genet Resour (2015) 7: 353. doi:10.1007/s12686-014-0371-9
  • Reassessment of the distribution and threat status of the Western Ghats endemic bird, Nilgiri Pipit Anthus nilghiriensis - V. V. Robin*,†, C. K. Vishnudas* and Uma Ramakrishnan

References
  1. "Dr. Uma Ramakrishnan | NCBS". www.ncbs.res.in. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  2. "2016 Dr. Uma Ramakrishnan | Parker/Gentry Award". parkergentry.fieldmuseum.org. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  3. "2016 Dr. Uma Ramakrishnan | Parker/Gentry Award". parkergentry.fieldmuseum.org. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  4. "Congratulations! Dr Uma Ramakrishnan elected fellow of INSA | NCBS News". news.ncbs.res.in. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  5. "On the tiger trail with Uma". The Life of Science. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  6. "Uma Ramakrishnan « CEHG Symposium". Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  7. Zhang, Zhibin; Wake, Marvalee H.; Stenseth, Nils Chr; Stegner, M. Allison; Stegner, Lynn; Solari, Katherine; Shrestha, Kashish Das; Schnitzler, Jan; Ramakrishnan, Uma (10 February 2017). "Merging paleobiology with conservation biology to guide the future of terrestrial ecosystems". Science. 355 (6325): eaah4787. doi:10.1126/science.aah4787. hdl:10138/308891. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 28183912.
  8. Mountain, Joanna L.; Reed, Floyd A.; Ramakrishnan, Uma; Nyambo, Thomas B.; Lema, Godfrey; Fernandopulle, Neil; Gignoux, Christopher; Knight, Alec; Mortensen, Holly (1 October 2007). "History of Click-Speaking Populations of Africa Inferred from mtDNA and Y Chromosome Genetic Variation". Molecular Biology and Evolution. 24 (10): 2180–2195. doi:10.1093/molbev/msm155. ISSN 0737-4038. PMID 17656633.
  9. Ghosh-Harihar, Mousumi; An, Ruby; Athreya, Ramana; Borthakur, Udayan; Chanchani, Pranav; Chetry, Dilip; Datta, Aparajita; Harihar, Abishek; Karanth, Krithi K. (1 September 2019). "Protected areas and biodiversity conservation in India". Biological Conservation. 237: 114–124. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2019.06.024. ISSN 0006-3207.
  10. Mondol, Samrat; Ullas Karanth, K.; Samba Kumar, N.; Gopalaswamy, Arjun M.; Andheria, Anish; Ramakrishnan, Uma (1 October 2009). "Evaluation of non-invasive genetic sampling methods for estimating tiger population size". Biological Conservation. 142 (10): 2350–2360. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2009.05.014. ISSN 0006-3207.
  11. Ramakrishnan, Uma; Borthakur, Udayan; Zachariah, Arun; Jhala, Yadvendradev V.; Nigam, Parag; Atla, Goutham; Natesh, Meghana (29 August 2017). "Conservation priorities for endangered Indian tigers through a genomic lens". Scientific Reports. 7 (1): 9614. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-09748-3. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 5575265. PMID 28851952.
  12. Mukherjee, Nibedita; Mondol, Samrat; Andheria, Anish; Ramakrishnan, Uma (1 December 2007). "Rapid multiplex PCR based species identification of wild tigers using non-invasive samples". Conservation Genetics. 8 (6): 1465–1470. doi:10.1007/s10592-007-9289-z. ISSN 1572-9737.
  13. "On the tiger trail with Uma". The Life of Science. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  14. "On the tiger trail with Uma". The Life of Science. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  15. "On the tiger trail with Uma". The Life of Science. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  16. "Honors & Awards(2010-2012) | NCBS". www.ncbs.res.in. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  17. "Bengaluru based ecologist bags Parker-Gentry award for work on tiger conservation". www.thenewsminute.com. 22 April 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  18. "Congratulations! Dr Uma Ramakrishnan elected fellow of INSA | NCBS News". news.ncbs.res.in. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
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