Uma Ramakrishnan


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

Education

Ramakrishnan did a Bachelor of Science in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics and a Master's in biotechnology. 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. Her research has been published in scientific journals Science, Molecular Biology and Evolution, Biological Conservation, Scientific Reports and Conservation Genetics. 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.
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. 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. 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.

Awards and honours