Samrat Mondol, Scientist E
Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun 248001, India.
Phone- +91-135-2646249 (O), _{+91-8191970271} (M)
Email : samrat [at] wii [dot] gov [dot] in, samratmondol [at] gmail [dot] com

I am a molecular ecologist/wildlife endocrinologist at Wildlife Institute of India. My research group uses latest molecular/ecological tools to help wildlife conservation. We combine a range of molecular and endocrinology techniques to predict the direction and degree of demographic change in free-ranging populations and understand the impacts of anthropogenic disturbances on their health and reproductive functions.

My interest in the field of wildlife science started when I joined as a research scholar at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore after completing my M.Sc. in Applied Genetics. My Ph.D. work focused on population and conservation genetics of Indian tigers (2012, Manipal University). Following this, I was awarded the Fulbright-Nehru fellowship at the University of Washington, Seattle, USA to study wildlife physiology and forensics. Subsequently, I joined the institute as a DST-INSPIRE Faculty (awarded by Department of Science and Technology, Government of India) in 2014. In 2015 I became a permanent faculty at the institute.

My research group currently focuses on research on a number of animal (tiger, leopard, dhole, sloth bear, swamp deer, elephant, Indian one-horned rhinoceros etc.) and bird species across India and Antarctica. Interested students can write to me about possible opportunities at samrat [at] wii [dot] gov [dot] in, samratmondol [at] gmail [dot] com (through email only).

ACADEMIC POSITIONS
Jul 2019- ongoing: Associate Professor (Wildlife Institute of India)
Mar 2015-Jun 2019: Assistant Professor (Wildlife Institute of India)
Jun 2014-Mar 2015: INSPIRE Faculty Fellow (Wildlife Institute of India)
Feb 2013-Jun 2014: INSPIRE Faculty Fellow (Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms)

EDUCATION

Jul 2011- Sept 2013: Post-doctoral Fellow (University of Washington), Washington
Feb 2008- Jul 2012: Ph.D. in Biological Sciences (Manipal University-National Centre for Biological Sciences-TIFR), India
Jul 2005: Master of Science in Applied Genetics (Bangalore University), India
May 2003: Bachelor of Science in Genetics, Microbiology, Biochemistry (Bangalore University), India  

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Conservation genetics, Wildlife forensics, Molecular ecology, Wildlife endocrinology, Conservation physiology, Population genetics, Conservation genomics, Wildlife disease dynamics

PUBLICATIONS

• Pacha AS, Pande A, Arya S, Saini S, Sivakumar S, Mondol S (2023) New insights on the phylogeny and genetic status of a highly vagile seabird from east Antarctica. Polar Science (in press)

• Paul S, Saha S, Nigam P, Pandey G, Habib B, Mohan D, Pandav B, Mondol S (2023) Functional connectivity in northern swamp deer (Rucervus duvaucelii duvaucelii) population across a fragmented, human-dominated landscape along Gangetic Plains of north India: Implications for conservation in non- protected areas. Conservation Genetics (in press)

•  Ahmad K*, Pacha AS*, Naqash R, Peddamma SK, Srinivas Y, Hudson S, Baghel DS, Nigam P, Mondol S (2023) Evolutionary insights on critivally endangered Kashmir Red Deer or Hangul (Cervus hanglu hanglu) through a mitogenomic lens. PeerJ (in press)

•  Biswas S, Kumar S, Bandhopadhyay M, Patel SK, Lyngdoh S, Pandav B, Mondol S (2023) What drives prey selection? Assessment of tiger food habits across the Terai-Arc Landscape, India. Journal of Mammalogy (in press)

• Paul S, Saha S, Nigam P, Ali SKZ, Page N, Khan AS, Kumar M, Habib B, Mohan D, Pandav B, Mondol S (2023) Spatio-temporal evaluation of waning grassland habitats for swamp deer conservation across human-dominated upper Gangetic Plains, India. Environmental Conservation. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0376892923000140

• Patel SK, Ruhela S, Biswas S, Bhatt S, Pandav B, Mondol S (2023) The cost of sympatry: spatio-temporal patterns in leopard dietary and physiological responses to tiger competition gradient in Rajaji Tiger Reserve, India. Conservation Physiology 11(1): coad039; doi:10.1093/conphys/coad039

• Modi S, Mondol S, Ghaskadbi P, Nigam P, Habib B (2022) Genetic evidence of differential dispersal pattern in Asiatic wild dog: Comparing two populations with different pack size. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 10:993851.doi: 10.3389/fevo.2022.993851

• Krishna A, Mondol S, Lyngdoh S (2022) First photographic record of Indian wolf in Rajaji Tiger Reserve, Uttarakhand, North India. Canid Biology & Conservation 24: 17-20. URL: http://www.canids.org/CBC/24/Wolves_North_India.pdf

• Ghosh T, Kumar S, Sharma K, Kakati P, Sharma A, Mondol S (2022) Consideration of genetic variation and evolutionary history in future conservation of Indian one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis). BMC Ecology and Evolution 22:92 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-022-02045-2

• Biswas S, Bhatt S, Sarkar D, Talukdar G, Pandav B, Mondol S (2022) Assessing tiger corridor functionality with landscape genetics and modelling across Terai-Arc Landscape, India. Conservation genetics 23: 949-966 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-022-01460-8

• Ram AK, Yadav N, Subedi N, Pandav B, Mondol S, Khanal B, Kharal DK, Acharya HB, Dhakal BK, Acharya KP, Baral HS, Dahal BR, Mishra R, Naha D, Pradhan NMB, Natarajan L, Lamichhane BR (2022) Landscape predictors of human-elephant conflicts in Chure Terai Madhesh landscape of Nepal. Environmental Challenges 7: 100458 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envc.2022.100458

•  Ram AK, Yadav N, Kandel P, Mondol S, Pandav B, Natarajan L, Subedi N, Naha D, Reddy SC, Lamichhane BR (2021) Tracking forest cover loss and fragmentation (1930–2020) in Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) habitats in Nepal. Scientific Reports 11: 19514 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-98327-8

• Kumar A, Ghanekar R, Morey B, Mondal I, Khandekar V, Jayramegowda R, Mondol S, Nigam P, Habib B (2021) Inhabiting terra incognita: Two-decadal patterns of negative human-leopard interactions in human-dominating landscape of Maharashtra, India. Global Ecology and Conservation 29: e01740. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01740 

• Modi S, Mondol S, Nigam P, Habib B (2021) Genetic analyses reveal demographic decline and population differentiation in an endangered social carnivore, Asiatic wild dog. Scientific Reports 11: 16371. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-95918-3

• Sagar V, Kaelin CB, Natesh M, Reddy A, Mohapatra RK, Chhattani H, Thatte P, Vaidyanathan S, Biswas S, Bhatt S, Paul S, Jhala YV, Verma MM, Pandav B, Mondol S, Barsh GS, Swain D, Ramakrishnan U (2021). High frequency of an otherwise rare phenotype in a small and isolated tiger population. PNAS 118: e2025273118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2025273118

• Patel SK, Biswas S, Goswami S, Bhatt S, Pandav B, Mondol S (2021) Effects of faecal inorganic content variability on quantifying glucocorticoid and thyroid hormone metabolites in large felines: implications for physiological assessments in free-ranging animals. General and Comparative Endocrinology 310: 113833. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ygcen.2021.113833

• Ram AK, Mondol S, Subedi N, Lamichhane BR, Baral HS, Lakshminarayanan N, Amin R, Pandav B (2021) Patterns and determinants of elephant attacks on humans in Nepal. Ecology and Evolution 00:1-12. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7796

• Sharma SP, Ghazi MG, Katdare S, Mondol S, Gupta SK, Hussain SA (2021) Microsatellite analysis reveals low genetic diversity in the managed populations of the Critically Endangered Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus, Gmelin, 1789) in India. Scientific Reports 11, 5627. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-85201-w

• Ghosh T, Sharma A, Mondol S (2021) Optimisation and application of a forensic microsatellite panel to combat Greater-one horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) poaching in India. Forensic Science International: Genetics 52: 102472. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsigen.2021.102472.  

• Pacha AS, Nigam P, Pandav B, Mondol S (2021) Sequencing and annotation of the endangered wild buffalo (Bubalus arnee) mitogenome for taxonomic assessment. Molecular Biology Reports. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-021-06165-8. 

• Goswami S, Patel SK, Kadivar R, Tyagi PC, Malik PK, Mondol S (2021) Effects of a combined enrichment intervention on the behavioural and physiological welfare of captive Asiatic lions (Panthera leo persica). Applied Animal Behaviour Science 236: 105222.    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2021.105222

• Pande A, Mondol S, Sathyakumar S, Mathur VB, Ray Y, Sivakumar K (2020) Past records and current distributions of seabirds at Larsemann hills and Schirmacher Oasis, east Antarctica. Polar Record 56(e40): 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0032247420000364

• Srinivas Y, Pande A, Gole S, Jothi PVRP, Magesh KM, Pathan S, Dudhat S, Shekar R, Ghanekar C, Kukadia D, Johnson JA, Mondol S, Sivakumar K (2020) Mitochondrial phylogeography reveals high haplotype diversity and unique genetic lineage in Indian dugongs (Dugong dugon). Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3490

• Paul S, Sarkar D, Patil A, Ghosh T, Talukdar G, Kumar M, Habib B, Nigam P, Mohan D, Pandav B, Mondol S (2020) Assessment of endemic northern swamp deer (Rucervus duvaucelii duveucelii) distribution and identification of priority conservation areas through modeling and field surveys across north India. Global Ecology and Conservation 24:e01263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01263

• Bhatt S, Biswas S, Karanth K, Pandav B, Mondol S (2020) Genetic analyses reveal population structure and recent decline in leopards (Panthera pardus fusca) across Indian subcontinent. PeerJ 8:e8482 http://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.8482

• Goswami S, Tyagi PC, Malik PK, Pandit SJ, Kadivar RF, Fitzpatrick M, Mondol S (2020) Effects of personality and rearing-history on the welfare of captive Asiatic lions (Panthera leo persica). PeerJ 8:e8425 http://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.8425

• Mondol S, Booth RK, Wasser SK (2020) Fecal stress, nutrition and reproductive hormones for monitoring environmental impacts on tigers (Panthera tigris). Conservation Physiology 8(1): coz091 doi:10.1093/conphys/coz091.

• Modi S, Habib B, Ghaskadbi P, Nigam P, Mondol S (2019) Standardization and validation of a panel of cross-species microsatellites to individually identify the Asiatic wild dog (Cuon alpinus). PeerJ 7:e7453 DOI 10.7717/peerj.7453

• Biswas S, Bhatt S, Paul S, Modi S, Ghosh T, Habib B, Nigam P, Talukdar G, Pandav B, Mondol S (2019) A practive faeces collection protocol for multidisciplinary research in wildlife science. Current Science 116: 1878-1885. doi: 10.18520/cs/v116/i11/1878-1885

• Paul S, Ghosh T, Pandav B, Mohan D, Habib B, Nigam P, Mondol S (2019) Rapid molecular assays for species and sex identification of swamp deer and other coexisting cervids in human-dominated landscapes of the Terai region and upper Gangetic plains, northern India: implications in understanding species distribution and population parameters. Journal of Genetics 98: 44 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12041-019-1094-1

• Modi S^*, Mondol S^*, Ghaskadbi P, Hussain Z, Nigam P, Habib B (2018) Noninvasive DNA-based species and sec identification of Asiatic wild dog (Cuon alpinus). Journal of Genetics 97(5):1457-1461 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12041-018-1017-6

• Paul S, Pandav B, Mohan D, Habib B, Nigam P, Mondol S (2018) Current distribution and status of swamp deer Rucervus duvaucelii duvaucelii in the upper Gangetic plains of north India. Oryx doi:10.1017/S0030605318000078 

• Pande A, Rawat N, Sivakumar K, Sathyakumar S, Mathur VB, Mondol S (2018) Cross-species screening of microsatellite markers for individual identification of snow petrel Pagodroma nivea and Wilson’s storm petrel Oceanites oceanicus in Antarctica. PeerJ 6:e5243. DOI 10.7717/peerj.5243

• Pande A, Sathyakumar S, Kumar RS, Johnson JA, Mondol S, Mathur VB (2017) Monitoring wildlife and their habitats in the southern ocean and around Indian research stations in Antarctica. Proceedings of Indian National Science Academy 83: 483-496. DOI: 10.16943/ptinsa/2017/48958

• Bhattacharya P, Talukdar G, Rawat GS, Mondol S (2017) Importance of monitoring soil microbial community responses to climate change in the Indian Himalayan region. Current Science 112: 1622-1623.

• Mondol S, Moltke I, Hart J, Keigwin M, Brown L, Stephens M, Wasser SK (2015). New evidence for hybrid zones of forest and savanna African elephants in Central and West Africa. Molecular Ecology. doi: 10.1111/mec.13472

• Shores C^*, Mondol S^*, Wasser SK (2015) Comparison of hair and DNA-based approaches in dietary analysis of free-ranging wolves (Canis lupus). Conservation Genetics Resources 7:871-878. DOI 10.1007/s12686-015-0504-9

• Wasser SK, Brown L, Mainland C, Mondol S, Laurie C, Weir B (2015) Genetic assignment of large seizures of elephant ivory reveals Africa’s major poaching hotspots. Science 349: 84-87 10.1126/science.aaa2457

• Mondol S, Kumar NS, Gopalaswamy AM, Sunagar K, Karanth KU, Ramakrishnan U (2014). Identifying species, sex and individual tigers and leopards in the Malenad-Mysore Tiger Landscape, Western Ghats, India. Conservation Genetics Resources DOI: 10.1007/s12686-014-0371-9.

• Mondol S^*, Sridhar V^*, Yadav P, Gubbi S, Ramakrishnan U (2014). Tracing the geographic origin of traded leopard body parts in the Indian subcontinent. Conservation Biology DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12393.

• Mondol S, Mailand C, Wasser SK (2014). Male biased sex ratio of poached elephants is negatively related to poaching intensity over time. Conservation Genetics DOI: 10.1007/s10592-014-0603-2.

• Joshi A, Vaidyanathan S, Mondol S, Ramakrishnan U (2013). Connectivity of tiger (Panthera tigris) populations in urban-forest mosaic of Central India. PLoS One DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0077980.

• Mondol S, Bruford MW, Ramakrishnan U (2013). Demographic loss, genetic structure and the conservation implications for Indian tigers. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 280, 20130496. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.0496

• Mondol S, Thatte P, Yadav P, Ramakrishnan U (2011). A set of miniSTRs for population genetic analyses of tigers (Panthera tigris) with cross-species amplification for seven other felidae. Conservation genetics Resources. DOI: 10.1007/s12686-011-9475-7.

• Mondol S^*, Navya R^*, Athreya V, Sunagar K, Salvaraj VM, Ramakrishnan U (2009). A panel of microsatellites to individually identify leopards and its application to leopard monitoring in human dominated landscapes. BMC Genetics 10:79. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2156-10-79.

• Mondol S, Karanth KU, Ramakrishnan U (2009). Why the Indian subcontinent holds the key to global tiger recovery. PLoS Genetics 5(8): e1000585. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1000585

• Mondol S, Karanth KU, Kumar S, Gopalaswamy AM, Andheria A, Ramakrishnan U (2009). Evaluation of non-invasive genetic sampling methods for estimating tiger population size. Biological Conservation 142: 2350-2360. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2009.05.014

• Mukherjee N^*, Mondol S^*, Andheria A, and Ramakrishnan U (2007). Rapid PCR based species identification of tigers from non-invasive samples from the wild. Conservation Genetics 8: 1465-1470. DOI 10.1007/s10592-007-9289-z