People

Meet the I.D.E.R Lab Group

Postdoctoral Researchers

Ray Chatterji, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Researcher (joined 2022)

Ray is an evolutionary biologist and morphologist. He earned his Bachelors, Honours and Doctorate degrees at the University of Adelaide, Australia. His PhD was focused on the evolution of sea turtles, in particular using skull morphology to investigate macroevolutionary patterns. He used a combination of Bayseian phylogenetics, geometric morphometrics, and comparative anatomy to uncover how sea turtle evolution was shaped by biogeographic patterns, dietary ecology, and ontogeny. Ray has joined the IDER lab to investigate the adaptive morphology of Anseriformes (ducks, geese, swans and screamers) and how their varying ecologies have affected the evolution of the group.

Graduate Students

Anupama Chandrasekhar

Ph.D. Student (joined 2022)

Anupama earned her Bachelor and Master of Technology degrees in Biotechnology from Amity University, India. She received the title of silver medalist for excellence in academics at her graduation. She is an artist and loves painting and sketching portraits. Anupama loves exploring new places around the world and likes to spend time enjoying nature. She has joined the IDER lab to study phylogeography, biogeography, macroevolution and phylogenetics. Currently, her research focuses on the diversification dynamics of the galliform family Cracidae.

Yvonne Love Cariño

Ph.D. Student - Co-advised by Dr. Manuela Dal Forno (joined 2023)

Yvonne graduated with a Bachelor and Master of Science in Biology from Central Mindanao University, Philippines, where she focused on the taxonomy and morphology of lower vascular plants (lycophytes and ferns), contributing to the discovery of several new species and new records. Currently, she is working on the documentation and systematics of the lichens from the Southern Philippines. She joined the IDER lab to learn and expand her knowledge on biogeography, molecular systematics and phylogenetics.