معرفی
Professor Hema Somanathan is a faculty member in the School of Biology at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram (IISER TVM), where she currently holds the rank of Professor after joining as Assistant Professor in August 2009.
Her educational background includes a PhD from the University of Bombay focused on plant-pollinator interactions, followed by a Wenner-Gren postdoctoral fellowship at Lund University, Sweden (2006-2009) investigating sensory ecology of nocturnal and diurnal bees.
Professor Somanathan's research centers on evolutionary ecology and animal behavior, with primary emphasis on:
- Evolutionary ecology of plant-pollinator mutualisms
- Sensory behavior and ecology of social and solitary bees
- Collective behaviors in social spiders
- Ecological interactions and animal behavior mechanisms
Her work integrates field and laboratory approaches to understand adaptive behaviors in ecological systems, particularly focusing on sensory adaptations and social dynamics in invertebrates.
She leads the BEElab (Bee Ecology and Evolution Laboratory) at IISER TVM, maintaining an active research program documented through her laboratory website and ongoing publications in ecological and behavioral sciences.
