I am a biologist with broad interests in ecology and evolution. My research is largely focused on the ecology, evolution and perception of acoustic communication in animals. I use a combination of field and lab-based experiments, empirical observations and computer simulation-based approaches to address my research questions. I have worked in a variety of habitats ranging from the rainforests of Western Ghats in Southern India to the foothills of Western Himalayas and on diverse study systems including insects, fishes, birds and mammals.

Smells ripe: olfactory cues likely mediate Mahua seed dispersal by fruit bats
Fruit scent as an indicator of ripeness status in ‘bat fruits’ to attract ‘fruit bats’: chemical basis of chiropterochory
Mahandran V, Hakkim H, Sinha V, Jain M
Acta Ethologica (2023)

Being Social: Jungle Babbler behaviours varies across day and seasons
Temporal variation in the behaviour of a cooperatively breeding bird, Jungle Babbler (Argya striata)
Yambem S, Jain M
Tropical Ecology (2022)

New species of Teleogryllus described from India after 50 years!
Taxonomic revision of Teleogryllus mitratus & T. occipitalis in India, with the description of Teleogryllys rohinae
Jaiswara R, Desutter L, Jain M
Zootaxa (2021)

Decoding the babble of Jungle Babblers: Contextual communication
More than just babble: functional and structural complexity of vocalizations of Jungle Babbler
Yambem S, Chorol S, Jain M
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology (2021)

Sonam graduated from IISER-M in September 2022. Her work in BEL was on communicative complexity in avian vocalizations. She has joined Dr. Raghav Rajan at IISER Pune as a postdoc .

Harish has a Masters in Zoology and joined BEL for his PhD work in August 2022. He is a recipient of a Junior Research Fellowship from UGC and is passionate about field ecological studies on birds and mammals.

Ashish joined BEL in March 2022 as an IISER M Postdoctoral Fellow. In February 2023 he was awarded the National Postdoctoral Fellowship from DST SERB. Ashish did his Ph.D. from CCMB and is working on avian diet analysis using IRMS at BEL, IISER M.

7 Masters students from BEL graduated from IISER-M in Aug 2022: Vaibhav (ontogeny of cricket calling), Barsa (moths of Himalayas), Geetika (Babbler bioacoustics), Sooraj (Sunbird vocalizations), Afzal (cricket mate choice), Kaustubh (bird song geographical variation), Ushnik (mouse neurobio, Gottingen)
