Broadly, I am interested in gaining novel insights into the patterns and processes in ecology and evolutionary biology through the lens of phylogenomics, microbial omics and comparative genomic approaches, with the overarching goal of improving human/wildlife health and conservation.
I recently (Summer 2020) completed my Phd from the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia. My PhD research focused on understanding the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of avian haemosporidian parasites (commonly known as avian malaria parasites) in the Western Ghats Sky Islands, a global biodiversity hotspot located in southern India.
As part of my PhD, I also optimized a novel UCE probe set and used sequence capture data for studying evolutionary relationships among malaria parasites. I anticipate that this probe set will be a significant advancement over previously available target capture probes and will help advance comparative genomic studies (Feel free to contact me if interested in collaborating on this!).