Rohini Balakrishnan is an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

bioacoustics Bioacoustics is a cross-disciplinary science that combines biology and acoustics. Usually it refers to the investigation of sound production, dispersion and reception in animals (including humans). This involves neurophysiological and anatomical b ...

expert. She is a senior Professor and Chair of the Centre for Ecological Sciences at the

Indian Institute of Science The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is a public, deemed, research university for higher education and research in science, engineering, design, and management. It is located in Bengaluru, in the Indian state of Karnataka. The institute wa ...

(IISc),

Bengaluru Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

. Her research focuses on animal behavior through the lens of

animal communication Animal communication is the transfer of information from one or a group of animals (sender or senders) to one or more other animals (receiver or receivers) that affects the current or future behavior of the receivers. Information may be sent int ...

and

Education and career

Rohini Balakrishnan has a bachelor's degree in

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

and a Master's in

Zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

. She received her

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

behavior genetics Behavioural genetics, also referred to as behaviour genetics, is a field of scientific research that uses genetic methods to investigate the nature and origins of individual differences in behaviour. While the name "behavioural genetics" co ...

in 1991 from the

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) is a public deemed research university located in Mumbai, India that is dedicated to basic research in mathematics and the sciences. It is a Deemed University and works under the umbrella of the D ...

(TIFR) in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. She was the first Ph.D. student of Veronica Rodrigues, an Indian geneticist. She then moved into the field of

behavioral ecology Behavioral ecology, also spelled behavioural ecology, is the study of the evolutionary basis for animal behavior due to ecological pressures. Behavioral ecology emerged from ethology after Niko Tinbergen outlined four questions to address when ...

, studying acoustic communication in animals and carried out postdoctoral research at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, from 1993 to 1996, followed by a second postdoc at the

University of Erlangen A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

(1996-1998). She joined

IISc The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is a Public university, public, Deemed university, deemed, research university for higher education and research in science, engineering, design, and management. It is located in Bangalore, Bengaluru, in ...

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

in 1998 where she is currently Professor and Chair of the Centre for Ecological Sciences.

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. This work is primarily focused on crickets and bats in the

Kudremukh National Park Kudremukha(ಕುದುರೆ ಮುಖ) is a mountain range and name of a peak located in Chikkamagaluru district, in Karnataka, India. It is also the name of a small hill station iron ore mining town situated near the mountain, about 20 kilo ...

, elephants in Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary and songbirds at the Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Sanctuary. Her lab was the first to study vocal communication in the

greater racket-tailed drongo The greater racket-tailed drongo (''Dicrurus paradiseus'') is a medium-sized Asian bird which is distinctive in having elongated outer tail feathers with webbing restricted to the tips. They are placed along with other drongos in the family Dic ...

. 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. 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.

Legacy

Two species of cricket discovered in Mexico and in

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

, India have been named Oecanthus rohiniae and Teleogryllus rohini in her honor. Balakrishnan has also discovered several new species of crickets including Prozvenella bangalorensis at the

campus in Bangalore.

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
*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
* 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
ref name=":2"> * 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 fro
http://jeb.biologists.org/content/200/3/511.abstract
ref>

References

External links

Interview with The Weather Channel India

IISc Profile

Dr. Balakrishnan's talk "Making sense of the cacophony" at the Young Investigators' Meeting 2015 (YIM 2015) in Gulmarg, India.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balakrishnan, Rohini Living people Tata Institute of Fundamental Research alumni Indian ecologists Scientists from Bangalore Academic staff of the Indian Institute of Science Indian women biologists 20th-century Indian zoologists 20th-century Indian women scientists Year of birth missing (living people) Women scientists from Karnataka