Faculty

Vishwesha Guttal, Professor, CES, IISc. 

I am fascinated by almost all areas of basic sciences and in particular physics, ecology and evolution, but I try to limit myself to studying (a) collective animal behaviour (with a focus on evolutionary aspects and self-organized pattern formation), (b) self-organized spatial patterns in vegetation of semi-arid ecosystems (c) building simple yet “predictive” models of abrupt changes in complex dynamical systems. Prior to joining IISc, I was a postdoc in the group of Iain Couzin at Princeton University; and I did my PhD in Physics at The Ohio State University working with Prof. C Jayaprakash on theoretical ecology. My undergraduate education (Integrated MSc in Physics) was at IIT Kanpur.

Click here for a Curriculum Vitae.

During my graduate student days at Columbus, OH, I used volunteer for Association for India’s Development. Click here for Columbus chapter webpage.

PhD Students

Shuaib: It was the BS-MS degree of IISER TVM that gave me a great exposure to different fields of science. I chose Biology as my major as my primary motivations was Evolutionary biology and Ecology. How humankind treats the natural resources in current world scenario and its effects on the existence of life on earth concerns me a lot. I strongly believe that various adversities faced in the modern world will be solved in future by the insights we will be acquiring from the studies related to nature and life. I am fascinated to continue my pursuit here at TEE Lab, being a part of it as a PhD student.

Vivek Jadhav: I graduated in 2020 from IISER Mohali with a masters in Physics. I am broadly interested in understanding collective behavior employing computational and theoretical methods. Previously, I have worked on developing game theoretical models to understand patterns in parental roles. For my Ph.D. work, I will be looking at the functional significance of collective motion.

Jahanvi Tiwari: I am fascinated by the idea of evolution and enjoy learning more about it. I did my BSc from Kumaon University, Nainital and Masters in Entomology from GB Pant University, Pantnagar. During my Masters thesis, I have worked on the biology, behaviour and ecofriendly management of wax moth. I have also worked on entomopathogenic fungus and bacteria under insect pathology and their utilization in sustainable agriculture. I have joined Dr. Vishwesha Guttal’s lab at IISc in July, 2022 as a Ph.D. student. Here, I will be broadly working on collective behaviour of fish schools and also maybe I can bring swarming insects to the lab. In my free time, I enjoy taking pictures of insects whenever I spot one.

Website: https://jahanvitiwari.weebly.com

Arshed Nabeel: I am broadly interested in collective phenomena, dynamical systems, and data-driven science. I obtained a Masters degree in Computer Science from IISc. Since then, I have dabbled in several interesting problem across fields, from social choice theory to neuroscience, from droplet microfluidics to collective animal behaviour. After a brief stint in the industry working as a deep learning engineer, I returned to academia in 2021, to study collective movement using data-driven approaches.

Outside work, you will often find me reading science fiction, sketching lonely robots, or obsessing over Formula 1.

Website: https://arshednabeel.wordpress.com

Utsav: I love science and am curious about this fascinating world of ours. I am also deeply concerned about the threats we face, the most concerning being the climate emergency that we as a species have put ourselves into. During my Masters at the School of Environmental Sciences at JNU, New Delhi, I worked on characterising forest fire patterns in India using remotely sensed satellite data. After that, I got intrigued by the work that TEE Lab does and was fortunate to join as a Ph.D. in August 2023. Here, I shall be working primarily on ecosystem dynamics and stability through the lens of self-organisation and tipping points. For this, I plan to use a combination of remotely sensed satellite data, mathematical modelling and fieldwork. I also enjoy birdwatching and photography, among other things.

Aakriti: I am passionate about ecology and have a background in zoology, having completed my master’s degree at the University of Allahabad. I have worked on fish behavior and plankton dynamics, and am interested in aquatic ecosystems. I am excited to contribute to an ecology and evolution lab, where I aim to explore the intricate relationships among fishes and possibly study ecological interactions.

Taha Umrethwala: I am deeply interested in unraveling the mysteries of complex and chaotic phenomena of real-world ecological systems through computational modeling. My time as a Bachelor’s student in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Institute of Chemical Technology has armed me with an interdisciplinary approach to scientific endeavors. I joined the TEE Lab as an Integrated PhD student in 2025 and hope to make active contributions to science. Apart from scientific pursuits, I really enjoy cooking, reading about history, and getting lost in virtual worlds.

———-

UG/Masters Thesis Students (2025-26)

Niharika Chipli (St Joseph’s Bengaluru, Physics major):  I was introduced to the books of one of the greatest scientists in history, Stephen Hawking, when I was twelve years old, and that was when my interest in physics began. I initially wanted to pursue astronomy, but during my undergraduate studies, I happened to choose climate science as my minor, which completely changed my perspective. I became deeply intrigued by the ecological aspects of the course, especially those related to the climate. During my sixth semester, I had a course on societal and personal aspects of the climate crisis and that course changed a part of me completely. It made me want to work on science and society as not two separate entities. Therefore here I am working on tipping points as a thesis student. The best part of the lab is that most of the work is interdisciplinary and you get to see and interact with people from various different backgrounds. I am looking forward to much more learning and fun over the course of my time in the lab. Most of the time you will see me quiet or minding my own business but I can be the most enthusiastic and fun person out there sometimes!  Apart from the academy, you will see me mostly hanging out with cats or at the gym.

Amar Kumar (M Tech, BioEngineering): I’m a Master’s student in Bioengineering with a passion for improving healthcare through the development and fabrication of innovative medical devices. My current research focuses on image processing and stochastic time series analysis of collective behaviour, aiming to apply these computational approaches to address real-world biomedical challenges. I am particularly interested in integrating data-driven methods with device innovation to enhance diagnostics and patient care.

Project Staff & Long Term Interns

Aparna – BS-MS student from IISER Tirupati, who did her MS project in our lab, will continue to pursue her work towards a publication.  She investigated how information theoretic metric perform in comparison to cross-correlation measures in deciphering relationship between coupled ecological dynamical systems.

Yogesh – BS-MS student from IISER Thiruvananthapuram, who did his MS project in our lab, will continue to pursue his work towards a publication. He worked on developing a new model of collective motion to incorporate stop.