Rohini Balakrishnan
NationalityIndian
CitizenshipIndian
Alma materTata Institute of Fundamental Research
Scientific career
FieldsAnimal communication, bioacoustics
InstitutionsIndian Institute of Science, Bangalore
Doctoral advisorVeronica Rodrigues
Doctoral studentsNatasha Mhatre
Websitehttp://ces.iisc.ernet.in/rohini/

Rohini Balakrishnan is an Indian bioacoustics expert. She is a senior Professor and Chair of the Centre for Ecological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru. Her research focuses on animal behavior through the lens of animal communication and bioacoustics.[1][2]

Education and career

Rohini Balakrishnan has a bachelor's degree in Biology and a Master's in Zoology. She received her PhD in behavior genetics in 1991 from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in Mumbai, India. She was the first Ph.D. student of Veronica Rodrigues, an Indian geneticist.[3][4] She then moved into the field of behavioral ecology, studying acoustic communication in animals and carried out postdoctoral research at McGill University, Canada, from 1993 to 1996, followed by a second postdoc at the University of Erlangen, Germany (1996-1998).[2] She joined IISc, Bangalore in 1998 where she is currently Professor and Chair of the Centre for Ecological Sciences.[2]

Research

Balakrishnan's current research is aimed at understanding the causes and consequences of animal behavior using acoustic communication. Her lab studies behavior and the ecological pressures that shape behavior in several field sites located in the tropical forests of southern India.[5] This work is primarily focused on crickets and bats in the Kudremukh National Park,[6] elephants in Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary[7] and songbirds at the Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Sanctuary.[8] Her lab was the first to study vocal communication in the greater racket-tailed drongo.[9] Using acoustic communication and behavior, her research explores several themes: signal mechanics and physiology of the sound-producing cricket and the auditory behavior of the receiving insect. Her work also looks at the foraging strategies and predator-prey interactions as well as reproductive choices and mate selection.[10] In addition to research, she is also interested in developing and validating databases of acoustic signals of various species to facilitate identification. This enables periodic biodiversity monitoring using an automated recorder installed in an environment allowing for non-invasive sampling. Her team has built libraries of over 200 elephant calls and recording over 90 species of birds.[7][8]

Legacy

Two species of cricket discovered in Mexico and in Kerala, India have been named Oecanthus rohiniae and Teleogryllus rohini in her honor.[11][12] Balakrishnan has also discovered several new species of crickets including Prozvenella bangalorensis at the IISc campus in Bangalore.[12]

Publications

  • Deb, R., Modak, S., & Balakrishnan, R. (2020). Baffling: A cheater strategy using self-made tools in tree crickets. BioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.06.080143[13]
  • Torsekar, V. R. & Balakrishnan, R. (2020). Sex differences in alternative reproductive tactics in response to predation risk in tree crickets. Functional Ecology 34, 2326–2337. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13652
  • Buxton, R.T., Agnihotri, S., Robin, V.V., Goel, A. and Balakrishnan, R. (2018). Acoustic indices as rapid indicators of avian diversity in different land-use types in an Indian biodiversity hotspot. Journal of Ecoacoustics, 2, GWPZVD (1-17).
  • Rajaraman, K., Godthi, V., Pratap, R. & Balakrishnan, R. (2015) A novel acoustic-vibratory multimodal duet. Journal of Experimental Biology 218, 3042–3050. doi:10.1242/jeb.122911
  • Rohini Balakrishnan (2005). Species Concepts, Species Boundaries and Species Identification: A View from the Tropics, Systematic Biology, Volume 54, Issue 4, August 2005, Pages 689–693, https://doi.org/10.1080/10635150590950308[14]
  • Balakrishnan R., Pollack G. (1996). Recognition of courtship song in the field cricket, Teleogryllus oceanicus, Animal Behavior Volume 51, Issue 2, February 1996, Pages 353–366, https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.1996.0034[6]
  • Balakrishnan, R., & Pollack, G. (1997). The role of antennal sensory cues in female responses to courting males in the cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus. Journal of Experimental Biology, 200(3), 511 LP – 522. Retrieved from http://jeb.biologists.org/content/200/3/511.abstract[15]

References

  1. ↑ "IISc Team Studying how Insects Talk". Neweindianexpress.com. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 "Chasing the Music in Nature: In Conversation with Bioacoustician Dr Rohini Balakrishnan". The Weather Channel. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  3. ↑ "Obaid Siddiqi and Veronica Rodrigues". Ces.iisc.ernet.in. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  4. ↑ "4 Academic generations". ces.iisc.ernet.in. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  5. ↑ "Ecology of acoustic signaling and the problem of masking interference in insects". Journal of Comparative Physiology A.
  6. 1 2 Balakrishnan, ROHINI; Pollack, GERALD S. (1 February 1996). "Recognition of courtship song in the field cricket,Teleogryllus oceanicus". Animal Behaviour. 51 (2): 353–366. doi:10.1006/anbe.1996.0034. ISSN 0003-3472. S2CID 16028662.
  7. 1 2 Nair, S.; Balakrishnan, R.; Seelamantula, C. S.; Sukumar, R. (2009). "Vocalizations of wild Asian elephants (Elephas maximus): structural classification and social context". The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 126 (5): 2768–2778. Bibcode:2009ASAJ..126.2768N. doi:10.1121/1.3224717. PMID 19894852.
  8. 1 2 "Decoding Birdsong".
  9. ↑ Agnihotri, Samira; Sundeep, P. V. D. S.; Seelamantula, Chandra Sekhar; Balakrishnan, Rohini (6 March 2014). "Quantifying Vocal Mimicry in the Greater Racket-Tailed Drongo: A Comparison of Automated Methods and Human Assessment". PLOS ONE. 9 (3): e89540. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...989540A. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0089540. PMC 3945749. PMID 24603717.
  10. ↑ Bhattacharya, M.; Isvaran, K.; Balakrishnan, R. (2017). "A statistical approach to understanding reproductive isolation in two sympatric species of tree crickets". Journal of Experimental Biology. 220 (Pt 7): 1222–1232. doi:10.1242/jeb.146852. PMID 28096428. S2CID 20907075.
  11. ↑ "Oecanthus rohiniae sp. nov. (Gryllidae: Oecanthinae): A new chirping tree cricket of the rileyi species group from Mexico". Journal of Orthoptera Research. 18 February 2021.
  12. 1 2 "Rohini Balakrishnan, IISc scientist who 'shares' name with cricket species in Kerala & Mexico". The Print.
  13. ↑ Deb, Rittik; Modak, Sambita; Balakrishnan, Rohini (7 May 2020). "Baffling: A cheater strategy using self-made tools in tree crickets". bioRxiv: 2020.05.06.080143. doi:10.1101/2020.05.06.080143. S2CID 218582528.
  14. ↑ Balakrishnan, Rohini (1 August 2005). "Species Concepts, Species Boundaries and Species Identification: A View from the Tropics". Systematic Biology. 54 (4): 689–693. doi:10.1080/10635150590950308. ISSN 1063-5157. PMID 16126664.
  15. ↑ Balakrishnan, R.; Pollack, G. (1 January 1997). "The role of antennal sensory cues in female responses to courting males in the cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus". Journal of Experimental Biology. 200 (3): 511–522. doi:10.1242/jeb.200.3.511. ISSN 0022-0949. PMID 9318192.
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