Jul 2023 – Dec 2025 · 2 yrs 5 mos · Uppsala kommun, Uppsala County, Sweden · On-site

• During my postdoctoral research at Uppsala University under Prof. Bob Muscarella, I developed Aghora v2.0, a field-ready, patent-pending photosynthesis analyzer that simultaneously measured photosynthetic light absorption dynamics and gas exchange. Building on my PhD and prior postdoc work at the University of Leeds, UK, I conducted experiments and trials with Aghora at Prof. Muscarella's lab, focusing on tropical forest trees (and to a limited extent, crop plants), including in situ measurements at the TRACE warming site in Puerto Rico and other tropical forest locations. These efforts advanced our understanding of electron transport rate regulation and the temperature responses of photosynthesis in tropical trees, informing predictions of their function in a warming world and strategies for forest conservation, with broader relevance to crop resilience. I also engaged with industry collaborators interested in commercializing Aghora v2.0 prototypes.

Sep 2022 – Jun 2023 · 9 mos · Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

• I established a state-of-the-art trace gas analysis facility in Birbhum District, West Bengal, to measure CH4 and N2O emissions from rice paddies and quantify reductions from improved water management practices; I trained 15 team members in chamber assembly, gas sampling, analysis, flux measurements, and plot management. I also developed a dedicated data structure for monitoring smallholder rice methane projects. Additionally, I led a statewide baseline survey on millet nitrogen inputs and yields in Karnataka, coordinating NGOs to establish crop management baselines for N2O emission reduction projects.

Apr 2022 – Jan 2026 · 3 yrs 9 mos

• Conducted photosynthesis measurements in the Western Ghats field site in between lockdowns. I was also involved in deploying and managing environmental sensors, and data organisation for a NERC-funded project site led by the University of Leeds.
• I continue to work on photosynthetic light absorption dynamics with Prof Emanuel Gloor

May 2020 – Sep 2022 · 2 yrs 4 mos

• EPSRC funded the Impact Acceleration Account project to develop a field-ready prototype of the technology titled 'Device for the measurement of photosynthesis' (19009). Developed and calibrated a field-ready prototype of the instrument for measuring leaf-light absorption. The prototype includes the development of a light source, optical leaf chamber with gas exchange capabilities, infrared greenhouse gas analyser, temperature and flow measurement, and complete electronics for instrument control using Arduino. The instrument was calibrated at the NERC Field Spectroscopy Facility, Edinburgh. The prototype was named Aghora v1.0 and enables testing of the technology.

Jan 2016 – Dec 2019 · 3 yrs 11 mos · Greater Leeds Area

• In 2015, record temperatures were recorded across much of the Tropics, with temperatures in many tropical forests approaching or exceeding 40 °C. Such temperatures are thought to be close to threshold temperatures at which impairment of plant physiological functioning occurs. Climate change is further expected to aggravate the occurrence and intensity of tropical heatwaves in the 21st century [IPCC AR5, SPM Page 10]. Tropical forest response to heatwaves is little understood and the existing literature is biased towards temperate areas. An analysis of heatwaves across tropics and possible impacts on rainforest function form the focus of my Ph.D.

Nov 2019 – Jan 2020 · 2 mos · Birmingham, United Kingdom

• At Prof Christine Foyer lab, based in the School of Biosciences, I planned to study the sugar feedback limitation due to CO2 enhancement on the photosynthesis of trees in the Free Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) experiment of the Birmingham Forestry Institute (BIFOR). This project was suspended due to COVID-19.

Oct 2015 – Apr 2021 · 5 yrs 6 mos · Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

• We started off as a group of volunteers on Facebook creating Unicode textbook chapters in Kannada, a major Indian language for the benefit of visually challenged students. Textbooks for visually challenged students are mostly printed on paper or sometimes supplied as Braille prints. However, these take their time and are not easily accessible to all students. Students prefer audio and this is where we started making use of text-to-speech converter developed by IISc. Converting printed books to Unicode editable text provided the flexibility to convert to formats such as synthesized audio, Braille, and DAISY formats.
• The technology/protocol was transferred to the Karnataka Textbook Society, a Government of Karnataka body (2021-2022).

Jul 2012 – Sep 2015 · 3 yrs 2 mos

• Manage three labs and monitoring GHG flux on agricultural experimental plots in two states of South India

Sep 2010 – Jul 2012 · 1 yr 10 mos

• I took up this assignment of the consortium of NGOs, the Fair Climate Network, India, to contribute towards developing a pro-smallholder farmer sustainable agriculture pilot project to access carbon finance through implementing climate-smart, agricultural practices. During this period,
• a) I developed a methodology for the measurement and monitoring of nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) emissions across four sites,
• b) set up four GHG laboratories working with five grassroots NGOs in four districts of South India. c) Trained, and managed experimental sites working with the NGOs, and subject experts in India and outside India.
• d) Developed simplified project monitoring workflow or farm diary formats.
• e) Developed produced and improved sampling chambers for trace gas sampling from cropland soils that involved working across various small manufacturers in Southern India and across various stakeholders at different levels and
• f) improved trace gas analysis throughput, conducted trials and tests at the instrument manufacturer factory (Chemito/Thermo Fisher, India) to reduce the sample runtime and improve the analytical accuracy of trace gas fluxes. The project was adopted by the Environmental Defense Fund, New York.

Jun 2006 – Oct 2010 · 4 yrs 4 mos · Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

• This was my first work assignment after my master's. I joined the Centre for Sustainable Technologies, with Prof NH Ravindranath. My research training focused on understanding ecosystem functioning, resource pressures (both climate-related and non-climate), and system vulnerability. I later worked on an assessment of a village natural resource management project across three states and coordinated an India-UK consortium project with the University of Liverpool in characterising ecosystem services in a wetland ecosystem in India. I was also involved in India's National Communications to UNFCCC and led the field campaign for the assessment of the environmental impacts of a natural resource management-linked national wage employment scheme in India across a district in Karnataka.