Biological and Life Sciences

Professor Subhash Rajpurohit is broadly trained in ecological and evolutionary physiology. Having completed his PhD in Bioscience from Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, India, he held a postdoctoral appointment at the University of Pennsylvania, USA. He is a recipient of the prestigious Ramanujan Fellowship from DST-SERB, Government of India. Professor Rajpurohit describes his approach as ‘Macrophysiology to molecules’. He is interested in understanding the fundamental questions around spatiotemporal variations, metabolic ecology, and rapid adaptation in natural populations of insects. In addition, he uses experimental evolution to study how physiological systems function and evolve under defined conditions. He has been involved in using Indian drosophilids as a natural laboratory of evolutionary biology and leading long-term studies on tropical Indian drosophilids. He has published 40+ research articles in high tier journals including Science, PNAS, Molecular Ecology, Journal of Evolutionary Biology, and Biology Letters. Professor Rajpurohit has active collaborations with Exeter University, UK , University of Pennsylvania, USA and Laurentian University, Canada. His work has also been covered in national dailies like Hindu and Times of India. He has been on the editorial boards of several journals in his discipline like Current Opinion in Insect Science (IF 5.3), and Journal of Thermal Biology (IF 2.7). His Lab—Experimental Ecology and Evolution Lab (EEE Lab) <https://www.rajpurohit-lab.org/>—hosts an outreach teaching resource on Indian Drosophila <DrosoCline>. At this Lab, undergraduate and graduate students and postdocs are engaged in various experimental ecology and evolution projects. At the moment EEE Lab is focusing on 'Organismal responses to climate change'. At the School of Arts and Sciences, Ahmedabad University, he teaches evolutionary biology and research methodology.

To know more about his group and the research work please visit his laboratory webpage:http://www.rajpurohit-lab.org/

Member:

• European Society of Evolutionary Biology ESEB
• International Society for Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health ISEMPH

Editorial Board Member:

Journal of Thermal Biology IF3.2 Publisher: Elsevier

Current Opinion in Insect Science IF5.2 Publisher: Elsevier

Scientific Data IF9.8 Publisher: Springer Nature

Prior Appointments:

• 2017-20; Assistant Professor, Ahmedabad University, Ahmedabad, India
• 2012-17; Research Associate, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
• 2011-12; Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Georgia, Athens, USA
• 2008-11; Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA
• 2007-08; Indo-Isreal Cultural Exchange Programme Visitor Scholar, Institute of Evolution, Haifa, ISRAEL 

Anthropogenic climate change is now recognized as a major force driving alterations in the fitness, behaviour, distribution, and ecology of species across the planet. Climate exerts powerful effects on the distribution and abundance of the earth's insect species. Based on major climatic models Earth’s temperature is going to rise 3-6 °C by the end of this century and this climate change-related warming is going to generate changes for many insect populations and the ecosystems they inhabit. The unprecedented rates of climate changes in the future, coupled with land-use changes that impede gene flow, can be expected to disrupt the entire ecology of many species. Warmer temperatures and desertification associated with climate changes will tend to influence (and frequently amplify) insect species’ population dynamics directly through effects on survival, generation time, fecundity, response to stress, and dispersal. A systematic and in-depth approach provides a foundation for describing how insect species are responding to recent climatic trends on the basis of insect physiology and predicting generalized species distributions and population dynamics for the future.

EEE Lab is interested in understanding the responses of organisms to changing environments i.e. warming. Our approach is from ‘macrophysiology to molecules’. The focus is on the interaction between phenotypic plasticity and adaptation, and the relationship between underlying physiological and molecular mechanisms. Ecological changes drive evolution which acts on organism’s physiology and thereby fitness. The ecological conditions are never stable, and organisms must cope with varying conditions i.e. physiological performance or some form of regulation. We do it by either manipulating organisms or their environments. We also make use of experimental evolution to study how physiological systems function and evolve under defined conditions. The combined approach we follow helps us understand ecological patterns and processes, survival in and adaptation to a changing world.

​EEE Lab also hosts a resource on Indian Drosophila Ecology & Evolution (a window to Indian Drosophila clines DrosoCline). The research findings associated with this long-term study are regularly updated on the following web resource:

​http://www.rajpurohit-lab.org/drosocline.html

Ongoing Projects:

1. Tropical fly populations response to warming (Functional genomics) 
2. Temperature effects on cuticular hydrocarbons (Physiology)
3. Impact of depleting body water and heat (Behaviour)

Our Approach: 'macrophysiology to molecules'  

In Focus:

1. Spatiotemporal variations as a tool to understand organismal responses to climate change:

   In the past, we studied ecologically relevant traits in Drosophila species populations along spatial and temporal scales in India (reviewed in Rajpurohit et al. 2017). This work established that seasonal temperature variability along the Indian latitudes play a critical role in defining various fitness trait clines (i.e. an increase or decrease in a trait value along the latitudes or altitude). We are trying to find out the genetic architecture of populations collected along the latitudes and altitudes. We use high-throughput platforms/approaches-genome resequencing of natural populations, gene expression analysis, and metabolomics to understand the molecular genetic wiring of natural populations. The efforts are in the direction to integrate findings from genomics and metabolomics to understand the organismal responses to climate change.

2. Evolutionary potential of populations/species (Field and Laboratory conditions)

   There is a possibility that if populations are not adapting fast enough to the changing climatic conditions they might go extinct. At this important juncture, we might need to dig biological complexities a bit deeper and explore the capacities of natural populations to adapt genetically to environmental changes. We expose known populations to growing tropical summers and check their genetic capacities. This approach helps us to test various ecological hypotheses. Experimental Evolution Study Stations at the Ahmedabad University has a set of mesocosm units to test such hypotheses (see Rajpurohit et al. 2018). This set-up is equipped with a climate tower to collect weather data day/night.

Current LAB Members

Dr. Harshad Mayekar
National Post-doctoral Fellow, SERB
​Start Date: Jan 2022
​PhD from IISER, Trivandrum, India
Harshad is interested in how phenotypic plasticity (a genomes' ability to express alternative phenotypes) enables organisms to cope with environmental variation. He works with insects and explores plasticity associated with different life-history traits. He uses a combination of lab experiments and field analyses to understand the adaptive nature of plasticity.
​

Divita Garg
PhD Candidate, Shodh Fellow

Start Date: Jul 2020

M.Sc. in Life Sciences from Mount Carmel College, Bengaluru, India

Divita is interested in the evolution of thermal preference in natural populations of Drosophila species. Ecology could drive organism's physiology and thereby fitness. One of her approaches is to study these using populations made of different genetic backgrounds. To understand the underlying molecular wiring she uses metabolomics, transcriptomics and whole-genome sequencing platforms. MORE

Abhishek Nair
PhD Student-Lab Rotation
​Start Date: Jan 2022
​Integrated MS in Life Sciences from Ahmedabad University, Ahmedabad, India

Abhishek is particularly interested in the structures and functions of insect cuticles. With the use of integrative approaches, he is trying to make connections across morphology and physiology. To address the questions of interest he uses natural populations of Drosophila species.  

Avirup Chakraborty
PhD Student
​Start Date: Jan 2024
​Integrated MS in Biotechnology from St. Xavier's College, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India

Abhishek is interested in thermal physiology of insects. He thinks it is crucial to understand behavioural response to temperature and temperature variation experienced in natural habitats. Temperature is a ubiquitous environmental cue that has widespread effects on physiology, performance, and fitness. He is looking at this problem from integrative approach.  

LAB Alumni

Scientific Staff

4. Abhishek Nair, Project Assistant: 2021-2021

​Now: PhD Student, Ahmedabad University, Ahmedabad, India

3. Prachi Mehta, Project Assistant: 2020-2021
​Now: Masters Student, Northeastern University, Boston, USA
2. Mayur Variya, Project Assistant; 2019-2020
Now: Field Biologist, Namdapha Tiger Reserve, Arunachal Pradesh, India
1. Rupesh Maurya, Senior Research Fellow; 2017-2019
Now: Assistant Professor in Bioscience at Indrashil University, Mehsana, Gujarat, India

Master Thesis Candidates/ PhD Candidates:

7. Kavya Durga, Integrated MS in Life Sciences; Master's Thesis Candidate 2021

6. Yusra Mariam, Integrated MS in Life Sciences; Master's Thesis Candidate 2021
5. Disha Patel, Integrated MS in Life Sciences; Master's Thesis Candidate 2020
4. Iffat Khan, Integrated MS in Life Sciences; Master's Thesis Candidate 2020
3. Shrusti Shah, Integrated MS in Life Sciences; Master's Thesis Candidate 2020
2. Jaydip Pipaliya, Integrated MS in Life Sciences; Master's Thesis Candidate 2019
1. Homica Arya, Integrated MS in Life Sciences; Master's Thesis Candidate 2019

High School/Undergraduate/Masters Interns/Lab Rotation-PhD Programme Students:
6.  Kamayani Vajpayee, Lab Rotation-PhD programme: Monsson Semester 2021
5.  Divita Garg, Lab Rotation-PhD programme: Monsoon Semester 2020
4.  Harshita Bhati, Lab Rotation-PhD Programme: Monsoon Semester 2019
3.  Shreyas Iyer, Integrated MS in Life Sciences; Summer Intern 2018 & 2019 
2.  Riddhi Rathod, Lab Rotation-PhD Programme; Monsoon Semester 2018
1.  Shilpi Agrawal, 11/12th Grade; Ahmedabad International School; Summer Intern; 2018 & 2019

2024

• Mayekar H, *Rajpurohit S. 2024. No single rescue recipe: genome complexities modulate insect response to climate change. Current Opinion in Insect Science. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cois.2024.101220.

2023

• Levesque DC, Wallis AL, Daypuk J, Petahtegoose J, Slobodian M, Sutherland-Hutchings AK, Black I, Vélez JM, Abood A, Wahbeh MH, Cejas RB, Cisneros AF, McNeil L, Konno K, McGregor L, Faroqi B, Bautisa C, Rajpurohit S, Garg D, Zhu J, Yang G, Arthur S, Merritt TJS. 2023. An Interactive Protocol for In-Classroom DNA Extraction. CourseSource 10. https://doi.org/10.24918/cs.2023.37

2022

• Mayekar H, Ramkumar DK, Garg D, Nair A, Khandelwal A, Joshi K, *Rajpurohit S. 2022. Clinal variation as a tool to understand climate change. Frontiers in Physiology. 13:880728. DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.880728.

• Rudman SM, Greenblum SI, Rajpurohit S., Betancourt NJ, Hanna J, Tilk S, Yokoyama T, Petrov DA, Schmidt P. 2022. Direct observation of adaptive tracking on ecological timescales in Drosophila. Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.abj7484. # First three authors contributed equally to this work. 

Media Coverage: The Scientist    arsTECHNICA    The Hindu    The Times of India

2021

• Arya H, Toltesi R, Eng M, Garg D, Merritt TJS, *Rajpurohit S. 2021. No water, no mating: connecting dots from behaviour to pathways. PLOS One 16(6): e0252920. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0252920.

Media Coverage: The Times of India

• Kapun M, Nunez JCB, Bogaerts-Márquez M, Murga-Moreno J, Paris M, Outten J, Coronado-Zamora M, Tern C, Rota-Stabelli O, García Guerreiro M, Casillas S, Orengo D, Puerma E, Kankare M, Ometto L, Loeschcke V, Onder BS, Abbott JK, Schaeffer SW, Rajpurohit S, Behrman EL, Schou MF, Merritt TJS, Lazzaro BP, Glaser-Schmitt A, Argyridou E, Staubach F, Wang Y, Tauber E, Serga SV, Fabian DK, Dyer KA, Wheat CW, Parsch J, Grath S, Veselinovic MS, Stamenkovic-Radak M, Jelic M, Buendía-Ruíz AJ, Gómez-Julián MJ, Espinosa-Jimenez ML, Gallardo-Jiménez FD, Patenkovic A, Eric K, Tanaskovic M, Ullastres A, Guio L, Merenciano M, Guirao-Rico S, Horváth V, Obbard DJ, Pasyukova E, Alatortsev VE, Vieira CP, Vieira J, Torres JR, Kozeretska I, Maistrenko OM, Montchamp-Moreau C, Mukha D, Machado H, Barbadilla A, Petrov D, Schmidt P, Gonzalez J, Flatt T, Bergland AO. 2021. Drosophila Evolution over Space and Time (DEST) - A New Population Genomics Resource. Molecular Biology & Evolution 38:5782-5805. https://doi: 10.1093/molbev/msab259.
• Maurya R, Swamy K, Loeschcke V, *Rajpurohit S. 2021. No water, no eggs: insights from a warming outdoor mesocosm experiment. Ecological Entomology 46:1093-1100. https://doi.org/10.1111/een.13053.

Media Coverage: The Times of India

• Bhati H, *Rajpurohit S. 2021. Quantification of wing and body tergite pigmentation in Drosophila, In Experiments with Drosophila for Biology Courses, Ed. S C Lakhotia and H A Ranganath (Publisher Indian Academy of Sciences). Pages 239-245.  https://bdsc.indiana.edu/pdf/Experiments_with_Drosophila_for_Biology_Courses.pdf
• Machado HE, Bergland AO, Taylor R, Tilk S, Behrman E, Dyer K, Fabian DK, Flatt T, Gonzalez J, Karasov TL, Kim B, Kozeretska I, Lazzaro BP, Merritt TJS, Pool JE, O'Brien K, Rajpurohit S, Roy PR, Schaeffer SW, Serga S, Schmidt P, Petrov DA. 2021. Broad geographic sampling reveals the shared basis and environmental correlates of seasonal adaptation in Drosophila. Elife 10:267577. https://doi: 10.7554/eLife.67577.
• Betancourt N, Rajpurohit S, Durmaz E, Fabian D, Kapun M, Flatt T, Schmidt P. 2021. Allelic polymorphism at foxo contributes to local adaptation in Drosophila melanogaster. Molecular Ecology 30:2817-2830. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.15939. 
• Sharma S, Meghwanshi K, Patel S, Choudhary C, Mehta P, Shukla N, Do D, Rajpurohit S, Suravajhala P, Shukla J. 2021. Long non-coding RNAs in insects. Animals 11, 1118. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11041118.
• Weller C, Tilk S, Rajpurohit S, Bergland A. 2021. Accurate, ultra-low coverage genome reconstruction and association studies in Hybrid Swarm mapping populations. G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics 11(4):jkab062. https://doi: 10.1093/g3journal/jkab062.
• *Rajpurohit S, Vrkoslav V, Vrkoslav V, Hanus R, Gibbs AG, Cvacka J, Schmidt PS. 2021. Post-eclosion temperature effects on insect cuticular hydrocarbon profiles, Ecology & Evolution 11:352-364. https://doi.org/10.1002/eee3.7050.

2020

• Vasquez-Procopio J, Rajpurohit S, Missirlis F. 2020. Cuticle darkening correlates with increased body copper content in Drosophila melanogaster, Biometals. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10534-020-00245-1.

2019

• Rudman S, Greenblum S, Hughes R C, Rajpurohit S, Kiratli O, Lowder DB, Lemmon SG, Petrov D, Schmidt PS. 2019. Microbiome composition shapes rapid genomic adaptation of Drosophila melanogaster. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A. 116: 20025-20032.

Media Coverage:

Science Daily

• *Rajpurohit S and Schmidt PS. 2019. Latitudinal pigmentation variation contradicts ultraviolet radiation exposure: a case study in tropical Indian Drosophila melanogaster. Frontiers in Physiology 10:84. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00084.
• Durmaz E, Rajpurohit S, Betancourt N, Fabian DK, Kapun M, Schmidt PS, Flatt T. 2019. A clinal polymorphism in the insulin signaling transcription factor foxo contribute to life-history adaptation in Drosophila. Evolution, 73:1774-1792.

2018

• *Rajpurohit S, Gefen S, Bergland AO, Petrov D, Gibbs AG, Schmidt PS. 2018. Spatiotemporal dynamics and genome-wide association analysis of desiccation tolerance in Drosophila melanogaster. Molecular Ecology, 27: 3525-3540. 

2017

• *Rajpurohit, S., Zhao, X., and Schmidt, P.S. 2017. A resource on latitudinal and altitudinal clines of ecologically relevant phenotypes of the Indian Drosophila. Scientific Data, 4:170066. DOI: 10.1038/sdata.2017.66.
• Etges, W.J., de Oliveira, C.C., Rajpurohit, S., and Gibbs, A.G. 2017. Effects of temperature on transcriptome and cuticular hydrocarbon expression in ecologically differentiated populations of desert Drosophila. Ecology & Evolution, 7: 619-637.
• Rajpurohit, S., Hanus, R., Vrkoslav, V., Behrman, E.L., Bergland, A., Dmitri, P., Cvacka, J., and Schmidt, P.S. 2017. Adaptive dynamics of cuticular hydrocarbon profiles in Drosophila. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 30: 66-80.

2016

• *Rajpurohit, S., Richardson, R., Dean, J., Vazquez, R., Wong, G. and Schmidt, P.S. 2016. Pigmentation and trade-off through the lens of artificial selection. Biology Letters, DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2016.0625.
• *Rajpurohit, S., Peterson, L.M., Orr, A., Marlon, A.J., and Gibbs, A.G. 2016. An experimental test of the relationship between melanism and desiccation survival in insects. PLoS One, 11(9):e0163414. doi:1371/journal.pone.0163414.
• Rajpurohit, S. and Schmidt, P.S. 2016. Measuring thermal behavior in smaller insects: a case study in Drosophila melanogaster demonstrate effects of sex, geographic origin, and rearing temperature on adult behavior. Fly, 10: 149-161.
• Etges, W.J., Oliveira de, C.C., Rajpurohit, S. and Gibbs, A.G. 2016. Preadult life-history variation determines adult transcriptome expression. Molecular Ecology, 23:741-763.

2015

• Etges, W., Trotter, M.V., de Oliveira, C.C., Rajpurohit, S., Gibbs, A.G., and Tuljapurkar, S. 2015. Deciphering life history transcriptomics in different environments. Molecular Ecology, 24:151-179.

2013

• *Rajpurohit, S. and Nedved, O. 2013. Clinal variation in fitness related traits in tropical drosophilids of the Indian subcontinent. Journal of Thermal Biology, 38:345-354. (Review)
• Rajpurohit, S., de Oliveira, C. C., Etges, W.J. and Gibbs, A.G. 2013. Functional genomic and phenotypic responses to desiccation in natural populations of desert drosophilid. Molecular Ecology, 22:2698-2715.
• *Rajpurohit, S., Nedved, O. and Gibbs, A.G. 2013. Meta-analysis of geographical clines in desiccation tolerance of Indian drosophilids. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology, 164:391-398.

2012

• *Rajpurohit, S. and Gibbs, A.G. 2012. Selection of body tergite pigmentation and correlated responses in trident: a case study in Drosophila melanogaster. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 106:287-294.

2011

• *Rajpurohit, S. and Marlon, A.J. 2011. Pigmentation scoring method for Drosophila. Drosophila Information Service, 94:134-139.

2010

• Gibbs, A.G., and Rajpurohit, S. 2010. Cuticular Lipids and Water Balance. In Insect Hydrocarbons-Biology, Biochemistry, and Chemical Biology, G. J. Blomquist, ed. (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Publisher), pp. 100-119. (Book Chapter)

2009

• Parkash, R., Rajpurohit, S., and Ramniwas, S. 2009. Impact of darker, intermediate and lighter phenotypes of body melanisation on desiccation resistance in Drosophila melanogaster. Journal of Insect Science, 9:1-10. First two authors equally contributed.

2008

• Parkash, R., Rajpurohit, S., and Ramniwas, S. 2008. Changes in body melanisation and desiccation resistance in highland vs. lowland populations of D. melanogaster. Journal of Insect Physiology, 54:1050-1056.
• *Rajpurohit, S., Parkash, R., and Ramniwas, S. 2008. Pigmentation, ovariole number and fecundity variations in lowland and highland populations of Drosophila melanogaster. Insect Science, 15:553-561.
• *Rajpurohit, S., Parkash, R., and Ramniwas, S. 2008. Climatic changes and shifting species boundaries of drosophilids in the western Himalaya. Acta Entomologica Sinica, 51:328-335.
• *Rajpurohit, S., Parkash, R., and Ramniwas, S. 2008. Climate change, boundary increase and elongation of a pre-existing cline: a case study in Drosophila ananassae. Entomological Research, 38:268-275.
• *Rajpurohit, S., Parkash, R. and Ramniwas, S. 2008. Body melanization and its adaptive role in thermoregulation and tolerance against desiccating conditions in drosophilids. Entomological Research, 38:49-60.

2007

• Parkash, R., Ramniwas, S., Rajpurohit, S., and Sharma, V. 2007. Variations in body melanization impact desiccation resistance in Drosophila immigrants from western Himalaya. Journal of Zoology, 276:219-227.
• *Rajpurohit, S., Parkash, R., Ramniwas, S., Nedved, O., and Singh, S. 2007. Parallel trend in pigmentation and desiccation tolerance: altitudinal and latitudinal effects in Drosophila melanogaster. Drosophila Information Service, 90:70-79.
• Pregent, S.R., and Rajpurohit, S. 2007. Genome, Evolution, Drosophila and Beyond. Fly 1:297-302. (Meeting Report)

2005

• Parkash, R., Tyagi, P. K., Sharma, I., and Rajpurohit, S. 2005. Adaptations to environmental stress in altitudinal populations of two Drosophila species. Physiological Entomology, 30:353-361.

Our current research has been generously funded by:

Research Grants:

6. UKRI Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) Fund 2024

Title: Understanding the Climate-resilience of Insect Holobionts

5. Climate Change Department, Government of Gujarat 2023-2025

Title eDNA assessment of Nalsarovar wetland: understanding the interplay of life and temperature (PI Subhash Rajpurohit)

4. Ahmedabad University 2022-25
(Interdisciplinary Programmes around Sustainable Systems and Living: Cities, Health and Climate Change)
Title Climate understanding of dengue spread in urban landscapes (Team: Darshini Mahadevia, Aditya Vaishya, Bhargava Adhvaryu, Kaushik Jana, and Subhash Rajpurohit)

Teaching

• Monsoon Semester: BIO600 Evolutionary Biology
• Winter Semester: RES501 Introduction to Research Methods
• Monsoon Semester: Foundation Programme: FDP102 Studio-Environment and Climate Change (Module 2: Environment and Life)
• Winter Semester: Foundation Programme: FDP104 Studio-Neighbourhood (Module 2: Biodiversity Component)

Recent Invited TALKS

1. Dealing with drought: connecting dots from behaviour to pathways. SEB Centenary Conference 2023, EICC, Edinburgh, UK. Date 4-7 Jul 2023.

2. Cuticular hydrocarbons under different environments. 'Frontiers in Biology' Symposium organized by Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram, India. Date 18 Mar 2023.

3. Water balance in insects: phenotypes to genotype. 'Joint Scientific Discussion Ahmedabad University and Clemson University' organized by Ahmedabad University, Ahmedabad, India. Date: 01 Jul 2022.

4. Understanding water balance in insects. 'Zoology in 21st Century' organized by the Department of Zoology, Shivaji University, Kohlapur, India. Date: 17-22 Jan 2022.

5. Water balance in Drosophila: insights from natural populations, selection experiments, and genome-wide association studies. 'Indian Drosophila Research Meeting InDRC2021' organized by IISER-Kolkata, India. Date: 13-17 Dec 2021.

6. Wing-spot chemistry reflects male fitness and dictates female choice in Drosophila biarmipes. 'International Symposium on Advances in Comparative Endocrinology and Behavioural Ecology' organized by Department of Zoology, Pune University, Pune, India. Date: 1-3 Jul 2021.

7. Drosophila Ecology "Drosophila melanogaster as a model” organized by the Skill Development Centre (SDC), BEICH RUSA.2.0 and Department of Human Genetics and Molecular Biology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, India. Date: 27 Jan 2021

8. Evolution: Mechanisms and Evidence. "Gyan Ganga" An Initiative of Deparatment of College Education, Rajasthan. Department of Zoology, Meera Girls College, Udaipur, India. Date: 11 Jan 2021   

9. Water balance in insects: macrophysiology to molecules. National Conference on "Evolution and Adaptation: Current Scenario", Institute of Science, GITAM, Visakhapatnam, Orissa, India. Date: 10-11 Dec 2020

10. TRP channels role in thermal preference: A fly story. Bioinformatics Centre, Birla Institute of Scientific Research, Jaipur, India. Date: 21 Jan 2020

11. Thermal preference in Drosophila: it's not that simple. ISEB2: Indo-Swiss Meeting on Evolutionary Biology. Centre for Human Genetics, Bangalore, India. Date: 12-14 Dec 2019

12. Molecules matter: Insect cuticular hydrocarbons. ISEB1: Celebrating Ecology and Evolution in India. First Conference of the Indian Society of Evolutionary Biologists. JNCASR, Bangalore, India. Date: 24-25 October 2019.

13. Seasonality and eco-evolutionary dynamics. H N B Garhwal University Campus Chauras/Birma Campus, Tehari, Uttrakhand, India.. Date: 18 September 2019.

14. Water Balance in Insects. H N B Garhwal University Campus Badshahithaul, Srinagar, Uttrakhand, India. Date: 20 September 2019.

15. Impact and risks to ecosystem. Global Centre for Environment and Energy. Ahmedabad University, Ahmedabad, India. Date: 23 August 2019.

16. Natural variation, laboratory selection, and genomics of desiccation tolerance in Drosophila. International Centre for Theoretical Sciences-TIFR Bangaluru (3rd Bangalore School on Population Genetics & Evolution), Bangaluru, India. Date: 15 March 2018.

17. Understanding geographical clines: seasonality and eco-evolutionary dynamics. IISER Pune, Maharastra, India. Date: 14 Feb 2017.

18. Adaptation to spatial and temporal environmental variants in Drosophila. Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Sciences, Bangaluru, India. Date: 25 Oct 2016.

Scientific Conference/Meetings Presentations

1. 23rd International Conference on Genetics. Date: 16-21 July 2023. Melbourne, Australia. (Poster Presentation with Harshad Mayekar: Genetic basis of cuticular hydrocarbons plasticity in a tropical high altitudinal population of Drosophila melanogaster. 

2. International Conference on Frontiers at the Chemisry-Allied Sciences Interface (FCASI-2023). Date: 20-21 April 2023. University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, India. (Poster Presentation with Abhishek Nair: Molecules matter: the fascinating world of insect hydrocarbons).

3. The 4th Conference of the Indian Society of Evolutionary Biologists. Revolutioning Darwinian Synthesis: Fresh Perspectives and Future Challenges. Date: 09-11 February 2023. Ahmedabad University, India. (Oral Presentation with Harshad Mayekar. Multidimensional insect cuticle: a juvenile perspective).

4. The 4th Conference of the Indian Society of Evolutionary Biologists. Revolutioning Darwinian Synthesis: Fresh Perspectives and Future Challenges. Date: 9-11 February 2023. Ahmedabad University, India. (Poster Presentation with Abhishek Nair: Altitudinal differences in cuticular hydrocarbons in Drosophila).

5. European Society for Evolutionary Biology ESEB 2022. Date: 14-19 August 2022. Prague Congress Centre, Prague, Czech Republic. (Oral Presentation with Divita Garg. Wing-spot and good gene hypothesis: it's not that simple).

6. European Society for Evolutionary Biology ESEB 2022. Date: 14-19 August 2022. Prague Congress Centre, Prague, Czech Republic. (Poster Presentation with Harshad Mayekar. Multifaceted insect cuticle: Different stages-different patterns).

7. International Conference on Insect Systematics and Evolutionary Biology ISEB3.  Date 16-18 February 2022. Punjabi University, Patiala, India (Oral Presentation with Divita Garg: Wing-spot pigmentation responds to temperature in a non-linear fashion).

8. Indian Drosophila Research Conference InDRC2021. Date 13-17 December 2021. IISER, Kolkata, India (Poster Presentation with Divita Garg: Understanding ecological significance of Drosophila wing spot).

9. Virtual EVOLUTION 2021. Society for the Study of Evolution. Date 21-25 Jun 2021. On-Demand Talk: No water, no eggs - insights from a warming outdoor mesocosm experiment).

10. ISEB2: Indo-Swiss Meeting on Evolutionary Biology. Date: 12-14 Dec 2019. Centre for Human Genetics, Bangalore, India (Invited Talk: Thermal preference in Drosophila: It's not that simple).

11. ISEB1: Celebrating Ecology and Evolution in India. First Conference of the Indian Society of Evolutionary Biologists. Date: 24-25 October 2019. Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore, India (Invited Talk: Molecules matter: cuticular hydrocarbons).

12. The 3rd Bangalore School on Population Genetics & Evolution. Date: 15 March 2018. International Centre for Theoretical Sciences-TIFR Bangalore, India (Invited Talk: Natural variation, laboratory selection, and genomics of desiccation tolerance in Drosophila).

13. The 5th Asia Pacific Drosophila Research Conference APDRC and Indian Drosophila Research Conference. Date: 6-10 Jan 2020. Indian Institute of Science & Education, Pune, India (Poster Presentation with Homica Arya: But first, give me water!: Drosophila adults refrain from copulation when dehydrated).

14. The 3rd Biennial Indian Drosophila Research Conference (InDRC). 6-9 Dec 2017. Indian Institute of Science & Education, Bhopal, India (Poster Presentation- Rajpurohit et al.: Post-eclosion temperature effects on insect cuticular hydrocarbon profiles).

15. European Society of Evolutionary Biology. 10-14 Aug 2015. Lausanne, Switzerland (Oral Presentation- Rajpurohit et al.: Allelic variation at TrpA1 and trpl regulated thermal-mediated behavior in the lab and field in Drosophila).

16. European Society of Evolutionary Biology. 10-14 Aug 2015. Lausanne, Switzerland (Poster Presentation- Rajpurohit et al.: Eco-evolutionary dynamics in response to seasonal adaptation in Drosophila).

17. Drosophila Research Conference. Date: March 4-8, 2015. Chicago, USA (Oral Presentation- Bergland et al.: Genome-wide test of a life-history model underlying seasonal adaptation in Drosophila).

18. The 5th International Symposium on the Environmental Physiology of Ectotherms and Plants (ISEPEP). Date 12-16 Aug 2013. Ontario, Canada (Poster Presentation-Nedved & Rajpurohit: Clinal variation in ecophysiological traits in drosophilids of the Indian subcontinent).

19. EVOLUTION 2013. Date June 21-25, 2013. Salt Lake City, USA. (Poster Presentation-Rajpurohit et al.: Spatial and temporal variation in drought tolerance in North American populations of Drosophila melanogaster).

20. EVOLUTION 2013. Date June 21-25, 2013. Salt Lake City, USA. (Poster Presentation-Etges et al.: Transcriptomics of cuticular hydrocarbon expression in a desert drosophilid: age and temperature/desiccation stress).

21. Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology SICB 2013. Date: 3-7 Jan 2013. San Francisco, USA (Oral Presentation-Gibbs et al. Testing melanism-desiccation hypothesis using experimental evolution).

22. EVOLUTION 2011. Date: 17-21 June 2011. Norman, Oklahoma, USA (Poster Presentation-Etges et al.: Ecological genomics of stage and age specific responses to different host plants in populations of Drosophila mojavensis).

23. APS Intersociety Meeting: Global Change & Global Science: Comparative Physiology in a Changing World. Denver, Colorado, USA. Date: 4-7 Aug 2010. Westminster, Colorado, USA (Poster Presentation-Rajpurohit et al.: Transcriptome analysis of desiccation in desert adapted Drosophila mojavensis).

24. EVOLUTION 2010. Date: 25-29 Jun 2010. Portland, Oregon, USA (Poster Presentation-Etges et al.: Ecological genomics of host use and mating status in Drosophila mojavensis).

25. The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology SICB. Date: 3-7 Jan 2010. Seattle, WA, USA (Poster Presentation-Marlon et al.: Evolution of gene expression in larval fat body of stress-selected Drosophila).

26. Drosophila Research Conference. Date: 4-8 Mar 2009. Chicago, USA (Poster Presentation-Rajpurohit et al.: Drosophilids as indicators of changing climatic conditions).

27. Gordon Research Conference on Evolutionary and Ecological Functional Genomics. Date: 12-17 Jul 2009. New Hampshire, USA (Poster Presentation-Rajpurohit et al.: Evolution of gene expression in larval fat body of stress-selected Drosophila).

28. Gordon Research Conference on Evolutionary and Ecological Functional Genomics. Date: 12-17 Jul 2009. New Hampshire, USA (Poster Presentation-Oliveira et al.: Ecological genomics of host plant adaptation and stress in desert Drosophila).

29. International Workshop on The Evolution of Sexual Size Dimorphism. Date: 4-7 Sep 2005. Locarno, Switzerland (Poster Presentation-Rajpurohit et al.: Morphometric variations in altitudinal populations of three Drosophila species).

30. The 8th Japanese Drosophila Research Conference. Date: 2-4 Jul 2006. Osaka, Japan (Poster Presentation-Rajpurohit et al.: Adaptations to altitudinally varying colder environments: Correlated changes in melanism, desiccation tolerance and reproductive fitness traits in Drosophila immigrants).

Newspaper Coverage/Blogs:

Evolution can happen at shorter timescales, a fruitfly study shows

https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/evolution-can-happen-at-shorter-timescales-a-fruit-fly-study-shows/article65281474.ece

Too hot to handle: High-temperature hits mating, reproduction in fruit flies

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/too-hot-to-handle-high-temperature-hits-mating-reproduction-in-fruit-flies/articleshow/84255096.cms

The little Fruit-fly and big Climate Change: Short story of Drosophila melanogaster and the Flyfolk
https://ahduni.edu.in/blog-detail-v1

Fruit flies' microbes shape their evolution
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/09/190917193631.htm
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-09/uop-ffm091719.php#

Interviews/Discussions:

1. Mighty Evolution! Is Evolution a Hoax?
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBwKY6QQurQ

2. What does a fruit-fly tell us about water?
   https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Dr-Shubhash-Rajpurohit https://www.facebook.com/pg/projectotenga/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2034780973469005

3. Panel Discussion; To mark the launch of the Global Centre for Environment and Energy at Ahmedabad University, a panel discussion was organized titled No ‘Plan B’: Looking Through the Sustainability Lens.
   https://ahduni.edu.in/events/ahmedabad-university-launches-global-centre-for-environment-and-energy

Projects

City Nature Challenge 2018 Ahmedabad, India

April 27-29, 2018

We, humans, share Ahmedabad with a large number of organisms living in our neighbourhoods! Let's try to find out what's out there! Join us (Rajpurohit Lab @ the Division of Biological & Life Sciences, School of Arts & Sciences, Ahmedabad University, Ahmedabad) in this citizen science adventure to catalogue our city's biodiversity!
Participation is very simple. Download the iNaturalist app to your mobile phone; then, from April 27-30, 2018, use the app to take photos of plants, trees, insects, animals, fungi, moss or other organisms you see and the iNaturalist community will help you identify it.
Note: For this project, our geographical boundary is outer ring road. Anything inside the outer ring road is advised to go in this work. Please keep your mobile coordinates open.
Stay tuned to us for further updates.
The City Nature Challenge is organized by Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and California Academy of Sciences, USA.
RESULTS...
May 1-3, 2018
http://citynaturechallenge.org/

Editorial Boards (Scientific Journals):

1. Current Opinion in Insect Science IF 5.2
Editorial Board Member

1. Journal of Thermal Biology IF 3.2
Editorial Board Member

2. Current Research in Insect Science (CRIS) 
Editorial Board Member

3. Current Science
Board of Subject Editors

4. PLoS Climate
Academic Editorial Board Member

In Past

Journal of Evolutionary Biology IF 2.4
Board of Reviewing Editors 2018-2021

Reviewer: American Naturalist; Functional Ecology; PLoS One; Scientific Reports (Nature Publishing Group); Evolution; Journal of Insect Physiology; Scientific Data (Nature Publishing Group); Genetica; Ecological Entomology; Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology; Behavioral Ecology; Zoological Research; Estonian Journal of Ecology; Open Access Animal Physiology; Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological Genetics and Physiology; BMC Research Notes; Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, India Section B: Biological Sciences; Proceedings of Royal Society B; Frontiers in Genetics; Journal of Evolutionary Biology.

Member:

• European Society of Evolutionary Biology (ESEB)
• International Society for Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health (ISEMPH)

Advisory Panel and Mentor:

Bio-NEST SRISTI Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institution

Member, Equal Opportunity EO Committee:

European Society of Evolutionary Biology ESEB https://eseb.org/

@ the School of Arts and Sciences, Ahmedabad University

PhD Programme Chair, Biological and Life Sciences

May 2019 to April 2022