Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment

Senior Research Associate, Assistant Museum Curator, EOL Rubenstein Fellow

Education
Ph.D. in Zoology [Entomology] (ongoing)(2010- )
S.N. College, Kannur (University of Kannur)
Topic: “Studies on the Biosystematics of Dung Beetles (Scarabaeinae: Scarabaeidae: Coleoptera) of Shendurney Region of Southern Western Ghats, India”.
(Research Supervisors: Dr. Anil, K & Dr. Priyadarsanan Dharma Rajan)

M. Phil in Zoology (Parasitology)(2004- 2005)
Department of Zoology, University of Calicut
Dissertation: “Larval digenea infecting the pulmonate snail Lymnaea luteola (Lamarck, 1812) in Malabar, Kerala.”

B.Ed. in Natural Science (2002- 2003)
Govt. College of Teacher Education, University of Calicut

M. Sc in Zoology (Entomology)(1999 -2001)
Govt. College Madapally, affiliated to University of Calicut
Dissertation: “Bioethology and mimicry of the Common Mormon, Papilio polytes L. (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)”

B. Sc. in Zoology (1996 -1999)
Providence Women’s College, Calicut, affiliated to University of Calicut

Research Interests
Entomology was not merely an optional subject for my Master’s course; systematic collection and identification of insects have been a passion for me since my college days. The study of insects, their behaviour and the role they play in our daily lives fascinated me since my school days. My present active research includes:
•Biosystematics of Dung beetles
•Molecular phylogeny of Dung beetles

Research Experience
Research Associate, ATREE, Bangalore (Oct. 2008- July 2011) (Responsibilities include coordinating the Western Ghats Insect Inventory Programme, setting up the invertebrate museum, curating and databasing the specimens).
Junior Research Fellow in the project titled “Biosystematics of larval digenea infesting the freshwater snails of Western Ghats”, at the Department of Zoology, University of Calicut (2005-2008).

Research Publications
Seena Narayanan Karimbumkara and Priyadarsanan Dharma Rajan, 2010. Dung beetles of Karnataka (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae), Occasional Paper, Zoological Survey of India (In Press).
Seena Narayanan Karimbumkara and Priyadarsanan Dharma Rajan, 2010. Western Ghats harbors half of Indian dung beetles! In “Biodiversity of the Western Ghats”, A compendium of Indian Biodiversity Congress, Thiruvananathapuram (In Press).

Fellowships
EOL Rubenstein Fellowship, 2012

Conferences, Presentations and Abstracts Published
•Participated in the Indian Biodiversity Congress (IBC 2010), organized by CISSA in Thiruvananthapuram, 27-31 December 2010, and gave a presentation on “ Diversity of dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) of Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary (Western Ghats: Kerala).
•Participated in the Global Conference on Entomology (GCE, 2011), organized by Century Foundation India, in Chiang Mai, Thailand, March 5-9 2011, and gave an oral presentation on “Impact of land use changes on dung beetle (COLEOPTERA: SCARABAEIDAE: SCARABAEINAE) diversity in a forest ecosystem”.

Professional Membership
•Life member of Prof. T.C. Narendran Trust for Animal Taxonomy Research Council
•ScarabNet, an international group of dung beetle taxonomists, ecologists and systematists
•Western Ghats Invertebrate Research and Conservation Network (WGIRCN)