RESEARCH

The emerging field of Ecoinformatics is the science of information in ecology with a focus on improving knowledge representation, and facilitating research, in the ecological domain with help of information technology. Areas of ecoinformatics research include: ontologies that clarify ecological semantics; interfacing between ontologies and databases; standardization of data collection and sharing; workflow systems that enables analyses on open-source distributed systems; and the discovery, access, interpretation, integration, and analysis of complex ecological data from highly distributed datasets.

I am currently working with TraitNet, a research coordination network that aims at improving ecological knowledge representation. A major goal of TraitNet is to develop an ecological ontology portal while focusing on a functional plant traits ontology. TraitNet is also involved in research of cross-disciplinary computational tools for merging, disseminating and sharing ecological data; coordinating the standardization of collection and sharing of trait data; and identifying trait data gaps.

My other research interests include foraging and population ecology of Asian large herbivores: how species of varying body size partition forage resources; the relative importance of dietary plant quantity and quality; the impact of the dominating spread of invasive plants on habitat suitability; determining vital life history traits; and population modeling. My scientific interests are closely aligned with my passion for nature conservation. I am also a member of IUCN's Asian Wild Cattle Specialist Group.