Section of Integrative Biology,
Campus Mail Code C0930,
University Of Texas, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
samraat[at]mail[dot]utexas[dot]edu
A tropical biologist sees snow
Nati goggles at the 'big fig' (Costa Rica).|
Section of Integrative Biology, Campus Mail Code C0930, University Of Texas, Austin, TX 78712, USA. samraat[at]mail[dot]utexas[dot]edu |
A tropical biologist sees snow |
Nati goggles at the 'big fig' (Costa Rica). |
PhD in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Texas, Austin, USA (in progress).
MS in Wildlife Science, Saurashtra University, Rajkot, India, 1999.
BS in Zoology, University of Pune, India, 1996.
Academic interests
Population interaction networks (currently food webs)
Evolutionary ecology
Current Research
The Structure and Dynamics of Population Interaction Webs in Fluctuating Environments (PhD Project)
Origins and Evolution of Life in Stochastic Environments*
Projects on the back-burner
Ecological Niche Modeling and Systematic Conservation Prioritization in Northeast India and Burma**
Systematics and Biogeography of Amphibians and Reptiles in Indo-Burma**
* In collaboration with John Scalo at the Department of Astronomy, UT, supported by a grant from the NASA Exobiology program
** In collaboration with the California Academy of Sciences
Ecology:
Pawar, S., Assembly, stability and the molding of network topology in complex food webs. (under review).
Pawar, S. S., Rawat, G. S. and Choudhury, B. C. (2004). Recovery of frog and lizard communities following primary habitat alteration in Mizoram, Northeast India. BMC Ecology 4 (1): 10. [pdf] (457KB)
Pawar, S.S. (2003). Taxonomic chauvinism and the methodologically challenged. BioScience, 53 (9):861-864. [pdf] (253KB)
Evolutionary biology:
Pawar, S. and Scalo, J. (submitted). Allele population dynamics in uncorrelated and autocorrelated stochastic environments.
Pawar, S. S. (2005) Geographical variation in the rate of evolution: effect of available energy, or fluctuating environment? Evolution 59 (1): 234-237. [pdf] (70KB)
Systematics, Biogeography, Conservation Biology:
Pawar, S., Koo, M. S., Kelley, C., Ahmed, M. F., Choudhury, S. and Sarkar, S. (2007) Conservation assessment and prioritization of areas in Northeast India: priorities for amphibians and reptiles. Biological Conservation, 136: 346–361. [pdf] (1730KB)
Pawar, S. S., Birand, A. C., Ahmed, M. F., Sengupta, S., and Raman, T. R. S. (2007). Conservation biogeography in Northeast India: hierarchical analysis of cross-taxon distributional congruence. Diversity and Distributions, 13: 53–65. [pdf] (379KB)
Biswas, S. & Pawar, S. S. (2006). Phylogenetic tests of distribution patterns in South Asia: towards an integrative approach. Journal of Biosciences. 31(1): 95-113. [pdf] (1073KB)
Birand, A. & Pawar, S. (2004). An ornithological survey in north-east India. Forktail 20: 7-16. [pdf] (182KB)
Pawar, S. S. and Biswas, S. (2001). First record of the Smooth-backed Parachute Gecko Ptychozoon lionotum Annandale 1905 from the Indian Mainland. Asiatic Herpetological Research 9: 101-106. [pdf] (157KB)
Slowinski, J. B., Pawar, S. S., et al. (2001). A new Lycodon (Serpentes: Colubridae) from North-east India and Myanmar (Burma). Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 52: 397-405.
Pawar, S. S. and Choudhury, B. C. (2000). An inventory of Chelonians from Mizoram, North-east India: new records and some observations on threats. Hamadryad 25: 144-158.
Others:
Pawar, S. (2001). In the heat of change: frogs, lizards and habitat alteration. Sanctuary Asia, October 2001: 24-30. [link]
Pawar, S. and Birand, A. (2001). A survey of amphibians, reptiles, and birds in Northeast India. CERC Technical Report #6, Centre for Ecological Research and Conservation, Mysore. 126 pages. [pdf] (3680KB)
Pawar, S. S. (1999). Effect of habitat alteration on herpetofaunal assemblages of evergreen forest in Mizoram, North-east India. (M.Sc. Thesis). Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. 64 pages. [pdf] (712KB)
Pawar, S. (1998). Book review: Biogeography of the reptiles of South Asia. Current Science 75(8): 857-858.
Pawar, S. (1998). Species accounts for the Conservation Assessment and Management Plan for reptiles of India (BCPP-Endangered Species Project). T.A. Rao, S. Molur and S. Walker (Ed.), Zoo Outreach Organization-CBSG, Coimbatore, India.
2008 : Graduate School Continuing Fellowship, University of Texas at Austin.
Research Assistantship, Department of Astronomy, University of Texas at Austin.
2007 : Research Assistantship, Department of Astronomy, University of Texas at Austin.
Frank and Fern Blair Fellowship, University of Texas at Austin.
Private Land Research Grant, Environment Science Institute, University of Texas at Austin.
2006 : Research Assistantship, Department of Astronomy, University of Texas at Austin.
Graduate Student Professional Development Award, University of Texas at Austin.
2005 : Travel scholarship, Beijing Complex Systems Summer School, Santa Fe Institute, New Mexico.
Research Assistantship, Department of Astronomy, University of Texas at Austin.
2004 : Zoology Scholarship Endowment for Excellence, Section of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin.
2003 : Research Fellowship, Section of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin.
2002 : Travel Grant, India Foundation.
2000 : Conservation and Research Fund, Chicago Zoological Society.
Oriental Bird Club Small Grant.
International Bird Conservation Network Program Grant.
1998 : McCann Grant, Salim Ali Nature Conservation Fund, Bombay Natural History Society.
1997 : MSc fellowship, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India.
Introductory Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Teaching Assistant + Supplemental Instruction leader, Spring & Fall 2007
Genetics & Evolution, University of Texas at Austin, Teaching Assistant, 2003, TA + Supplemental Instruction leader, 2004, 2005
Evolutionary Ecology, University of Texas at Austin, Teaching Assistant, 2004
Physiology & Functional Anatomy, University of Texas at Austin, Teaching Assistant, 2002
From individuals to population interaction networks: Life history, energetics, and the dynamical molding of food web structure. Population Biology Seminar, University of Texas at Austin, March 2008.
From individuals to population interaction networks: disentangling Darwin's entangled bank. EEB seminar, Rice University, Houston, March 2008. (invited).
Life history, energetics, and the molding of population interaction networks. Early Career Scientist Symposium: Networks in Ecology and Evolution, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, March 2008. (invited).
The effects of environmental stochasticity on population interaction webs, Joint Meeting of the Ecological Society of America and the Society for Ecological Restoration 2007 in San Jose, California, August 2007.
A story of missing links: On the distribution of consumer-resource body mass ratios in food webs, Joint Meeting of the Ecological Society of America and the Society for Ecological Restoration 2007 in San Jose, California, August 2007. (Poster)
Webs in an ever-changing world: environmental fluctuations and population interaction networks, Ecological Integration Student Research Symposium, Texas A&M University, April 2007.
Webs in an ever-changing world: environmental fluctuations and population interaction networks, Population Biology Seminar, University of Texas at Austin, April 2007
Webs in an uncertain world: Assembly and persistence of population interaction networks in fluctuating environments, Annual meeting of The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, Phoenix, Arizona, January 2007.
Ecological Niche modeling of Amphibian and Reptile distributions in South Asia: Conservation and Biogeographical Applications, Slowinski Memorial Symposium, 2006 Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, New Orleans, Louisiana, July 2006. (invited)
Life in an uncertain world: biology, exobiology and beyond, Symposium: “Interdisciplinary Perspectives: A Graduate Student Research Showcase", University of Texas at Austin, April 2006.
Evolutionary Dynamics of Population Interaction Networks, Santa Fe Institute Complex Systems Summer School, Institute for Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, August 2005. (Talk and poster)
How to kill a buncha’ bacteria: Evolutionary-Population Ecology in fluctuating environments, EEB and Plant Biology Graduate Student Symposium, University of Texas at Austin, Oct 2004.
Community assembly following primary habitat alteration, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, September 2000.
Amphibians and reptiles of Mizoram, India International Centre, New Delhi, Nov 1999. (invited)
Habitat succession and herpetofaunal assemblages of evergreen forest in Mizoram, North-east India, MS dissertation defense, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, June 1999.
Preliminary report on the threats to Ngengpui Wildlife Sanctuary, Mizoram, Mizoram Forest Department, Aizwal, Mizoram, Jan 1999. (invited)
Amphibians and reptiles of Mizoram: taxonomic challenges and conservation issues, Bombay Natural History Society, Hornbill house, Mumbai, July 1998. (invited)
Conservation Assessment Workshops for reptiles of India, BCCP India & Forest Department of Tamil Nadu, Coimbatore, May 1997. (invited)
Reviewer for Journal of Tropical Ecology, Journal of Biosciences, Hamadryad, Journal of Herpetology, Asiatic Herpetological Research.
Grant reviewer for the National Geographic Society.
Member of editorial board, Current Conservation