Research Interest
My postdoctoral project focuses on the Critically Endangered Gyps vultures, which have experienced a catastrophic decline in the Indian subcontinent owing to the veterinary use to the drug diclofenac. Mostly, concentrated around National Parks, the remaining vultures appear to be stabilizing in numbers following the ban on the veterinary use of the drug in 2006. My project specifically focuses on uncovering the diet of these species using molecular metabarcoding to understand if access to wild prey make these protected areas their refuge. I also aim to assess the extent of genetic loss experienced by these species through comparison with historical samples and estimate the geographic distribution of the extant genetic variation using genomics. Apart from this, I am also exploring the utility of using citizen science data to monitor the breeding populations and mortality of these species, which rely on effective conservation actions to revive their populations.