Uma Ramakrishnan

Uma Ramakrishnan
Nationality	Indian
Alma mater	PhD, University of California, San Diego Postdoc, Stanford University
Occupation	Professor
Awards	Parker-Gentry Award
Website	https://www.ncbs.res.in/faculty/uma-research

Uma Ramakrishnan is an Indian molecular ecologist and 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] In July 2019, she was elected as a fellow to the Indian National Science Academy. ^[2]

Education

Ramakrishnan did a Bachelor of Science in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics and a Master's in biotechnology. ^[3] She subsequently received a PhD from the University of California, San Diego, following which she was a postdoc at Stanford University.^{[ citation needed ]}

Research and career

Ramakrishnan joined NCBS in 2005 as an assistant professor.^{[ citation needed ]} Her lab developed methods to conduct population monitoring and landscape/population genetics with tiger fecal samples. ^[4] 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. ^[4] 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. ^[5] 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. ^[6]

Publications

• Merging paleobiology with conservation biology to guide the future of terrestrial ecosystems, Science ^[7]
• History of Click-Speaking Populations of Africa Inferred from mtDNA and Y Chromosome Genetic Variation, Molecular Biology and Evolution, ^[8]
• Protected areas and biodiversity conservation in India, Biological Conservation, ^{[9] [10]}
• Conservation priorities for endangered Indian tigers through a genomic lens, Scientific Reports ^[11]
• Rapid multiplex PCR based species identification of wild tigers using non-invasive samples, Conservation Genetics . ^[12]
• 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

Awards and honours

• Ramanujan Fellowship, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India (2010) [13]
• Parker/Gentry Award by Field Museum, Chicago ^{[14] [15]}
• Senior Research Visiting Fellow, Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore (2011) ^[13]
• Outstanding Scientist Award, Department of Atomic Energy (2012) ^[13]
• Fellow, Indian National Science Academy (INSA) ^[16]

References

1. "Dr. Uma Ramakrishnan | NCBS". www.ncbs.res.in. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
2. "Congratulations! Dr Uma Ramakrishnan elected fellow of INSA | NCBS News". news.ncbs.res.in. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
3. "On the tiger trail with Uma". The Life of Science. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
4. "Uma Ramakrishnan « CEHG Symposium". Archived from the original on 18 December 2017. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
5. "On the tiger trail with Uma". The Life of Science. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
6. "On the tiger trail with Uma". The Life of Science. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 31 August 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. S2CID   206652071.
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. S2CID   198252839.
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. S2CID   2653535.
13. "Honors & Awards(2010-2012) | NCBS". www.ncbs.res.in. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
14. "Bengaluru based ecologist bags Parker-Gentry award for work on tiger conservation". www.thenewsminute.com. 22 April 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
15. "2016 Dr. Uma Ramakrishnan | Parker/Gentry Award". parkergentry.fieldmuseum.org. Archived from the original on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
16. "Congratulations! Dr Uma Ramakrishnan elected fellow of INSA | NCBS News". news.ncbs.res.in. Retrieved 31 August 2019.