I am an evolutionary biologist, interested in different forces determining evolution, evolutionary genetics and condition-dependence.

I did my integrated BS-MS degree from IISER Mohali (IN) and Master’s thesis project from University of Zurich (CH). Supervisors: Prof. Stefan Luepold (UZH, CH) and Prof. N. G. Prasad (IISER M, IN).

Through a series of project and internships during my undergrad; I tried to understand male-male competition and cryptic female choice in Drosophila melanogaster. During my master’s project, I worked on condition and context dependence in different Drosophila species. I manipulated the developmental conditions to understand the effect of novel environmental stresses. 

During my PhD in the Department of Systemic and Evolutionary Botany, I will work on identifying different mechanisms used by non-adapted herbivores to cope with novel chemical defense in Erysimum. I will also aim to understand if artificial selection pressure imposed by novel chemical defenses can shape the evolution of specific resistance mechanism in Plutella xylostella. Supervisor: Prof. Tobias Zuest.