Dr. vinita gowda

Associate Professor
gowdav@iiserb.ac.in
Evolutionary, molecular ecology, population genetics and behavioral biology, Genomics Biology
Phone: +91 755 269 1417
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Post-Doctoral Fellow: The Herbarium, Singapore Botanic Gardens, Singapore, 2012-2013.
Post-Doctoral Fellow: Dept. of Botany, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA, 2010-2012.
Ph.D: in Systematics, Evolution, and Ecology, Dept. of Biological Sciences, George Washington University, USA, 2002-2009.
M.Sc.: Applied Botany, Mangalore University, 1999.
My new research group at IISER-B will predominantly focus on: plant evolution and ecology. Using these two broad fields we will address questions related to: a) morphological trait evolution (such as key floral and vegetative characters in plants using phylogenetic tools), b) biogeography, c) plant-pollinator interactions, d) phenological patterns, and e) conservation (evolution of invasive vs. non-invasive plant traits).

Although most of the research questions within the lab will center on plants, we are open to evolutionary questions in other taxa as well, such as phylogeny and evolution of morphological and behavioral traits in key pollinators and disperser species (e.g. insects, birds, and bats). Students and postdocs joining the lab are welcome to pursue their own topic of research within the broad fields of ecology and evolution or can choose to focus on some of the lab's main interests (as listed above). Herbarium, nursery, and collection facilities (for plant and animal tissue and specimen) will be provided to everyone with a strong field component and in-fact everyone is encouraged to build a good collection at IISER-B. Molecular facilities [genomic (Illumina) and sanger sequencing], and bioinformatics training are also available (see Dr. Vineet's page).

For PhD candidates: Click Here

I encourage potential PhD candidates to contact me and discuss their research interests before applying. All potential PhD students have to go through the IISER-B selection process and will be required to have one of the qualifier examinations score. Interviews are held twice a year i.e., Spring and Fall semester. Please find the interview/exam schedules on the main IISER-B page: Click Here

For Post-doctoral fellows: Click Here

Postdoctoral fellows are also encouraged to contact me and discuss their project interests. However, I expect a clear presentation of project idea, good field and lab experience, and publications in press or in print. The PD fellow is also expected to already have an inclination to certain taxa or group of organism when entering my lab. Molecular/phylogenetic training can be provided in the lab for those who come with only ecological training, however in these exceptional cases I will expect the PD fellow to have an excellent ecology background and good understanding of statistics (R or SAS or similar), and morphological taxonomy. I encourage both the PhD and Post-doctoral fellows to have a strong field component in their respective research topics. In the initial years, the main area of fieldwork can be North-East of India, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Singapore, Asia, or Western Ghats, in this specific order.

For Undergraduate students: Undergraduate students keen to get some research experience are also welcome - write to me if interested.
Plant Biology: Plant ecology, Plant population genetics, and Conservation biology (all courses with lab).
Plant Evolution: Morphological systematics, Molecular systematics, and Biogeography (all courses with lab).
SNo Authors Title of Article Pid Journal Year
1 N S Prasanna,Vinita Gowda Rediscovery of four narrow endemic Didymocarpus species (Gesneriaceae) from Mizoram, India, with revised species descriptions and lectotypifications. 2305 Phytokeys 2020
2 N S Prasanna,D T Liu,Preeti Saryan,S Z Duan,Cai Lei,Vinita Gowda Didymocarpus sinoindicus (Gesneriaceae), a new species from India and China 2307 Rheedea 2020
3 Preeti Saryan,Vinita Gowda Low‐cost FloPump for regulated air sampling of volatile organic compounds. 2309 Applications in Plant Sciences 2020
4 Saryan P,Gupta Shubham,Vinita Gowda Saryan, P., Gupta, S. and Gowda, V., 2020. Species complex delimitations in the genus Hedychium : A machine learning approach for cluster discovery. 2303 Applications in Plant Sciences 2020
5 Vinita Gowda,Ajith Ashokan Hedychium ziroense (Zingiberaceae), a new species of ginger lily from Northeast India. 1933 Phytokeys 2019
6 Ajith Ashokan,Vinita Gowda Describing terminologies and discussing records: More discoveries of vivipary in the genus Hedychium J. Koenig (Zingiberaceae) from Northeast India 1109 Phytokeys 2018
7 Lan Jiang,Qingqing Wang,Jue Yu,Vinita Gowda,Gabriel Johnson,Jianke Yang,Xianzhao Kan,Xiaojun Yang miRNAome expression profiles in the gonads of adult Melopsittacus undulatus. 1935 PeerJ 2018
8 Ajith Ashokan,Vinita Gowda Diversity of the genus Hedychium J. Koenig (Zingiberaceae) in the Northeast of India-I. 1111 Heliconia Society International Bulletin. 2017
9 Amit K Verma,Danish Diwan,Sandeep Raut,Neha Dobriyal,Rebecca E Brown,Vinita Gowda,Justin K Hines,Chandan Sahi Evolutionary Conservation and Emerging Functional Diversity of the Cytosolic Hsp70:J Protein Chaperone Network of Arabidopsis thaliana. 1112 G3: Genes Genomes Genetics 2017