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Scientist Profile

  • Scientist Profile

Dr. Vishnupriya Kolipakam

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Dr. Vishnupriya Kolipakam
Scientist - D

Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun 248001, India.

+91-0135-2646203

vishnupriya [at] wii [dot] gov [dot] in

 

About
I am an Evolutionary biologist interested in using interdisciplinary tools for wildlife conservation. I have led the genetic component of the All India Tiger Estimation exercise, driven the Elephant estimation project to understand the efficacy of different estimation methods, and contributed to Project Bustard.

My primary research focus is on river dolphin conservation in India, including development of method for estimation, status survey (including use of eDNA), threat assessment, conservation planning, and ecological research. I am largely driven towards studying elusive and Endangered species and employ molecular ecology tools to assess the population status of species - including but not limited to hispid hare, caracal, wild buffalo, wild dog, sloth bear, and leopards.

I am currently using Next Generation tools to garner information that can be useful for management of habitats and species.
Academic Positions
  • May 2018 - October, 2021 : Scientist - C at Wildlife Institute of India
  • November, 2021 : Present: Scientist - D at Wildlife Institute of India
Education
  • BSc in Biotechnology at Bharathiar University, Coimbatore
  • MSc in Biosciences (Molecular Anthropology) at University of Leeds, UK
  • PhD in Evolutionary Biology at Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics & Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
Research Interest
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Population Ecology
  • Conservation of elusive and endangered species
  • Large Carnivore conservation
  • River Dolphin Conservation
  • Molecular Ecology
Publications
  • https://wii.gov.in" target="_blank">Goyal, N., Warudkar, A., Kolipakam, V., Pant, B., Kuppusamy, S., Singh, P., ... & Nair, M. V. (2024). Revisiting the systematic position of the enigmatic Nicobar Bulbul (Ixos nicobariensis). Ibis, 166(3), 1059-1063.
  • Chandel, C. S., Madan, S., Jain, D., Kawlni, L., Kolipakam, V., & Qureshi, Q. (2024). Understanding Human-Nilgai negative interactions in India: a systematic review through print media report analysis. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 16(6), 25318-25329.
  • Singh, V., Negi, R., Jacob, M., Gayathri, A., Rokade, A., Sarma, H., ... & Qureshi, Q. (2023). Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in aquatic ecosystem exposed to the 2020 Baghjan oil spill in upper Assam, India: Short-term toxicity and ecological risk assessment. Plos one, 18(11), e0293601.
  • Johnson, J. A., Nanda, P., Pant, B., Mane, S. S., & Kolipakam, V. (2023). Redescription of an endemic mahseer, Tor mahanadicus (David, 1953) from Mahanadi River basin, India based on integrated morphological and molecular techniques. PLoS One, 18(9), e0291436.
  • Saini, D., Yadav, P., Kolipakam, V., Sathyakumar, S., & Gupta, S. K. (2023). The complete mitogenome of blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur) from the Indian Himalayan Region and its comparative phylogenetic relationship with other related species. Animal Gene, 29, 200155.
  • Kolipakam, V., Jacob, M., Gayathri, A., Deori, S., Sarma, H., Tasfia, S. T., ... & Qureshi, Q. (2022). Pingers are effective in reducing net entanglement of river dolphins. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 9382.
  • Uddin, M., Dutta, S., Kolipakam, V., Sharma, H., Usmani, F., & Jhala, Y. (2021). High bird mortality due to power lines invokes urgent environmental mitigation in a tropical desert. Biological Conservation, 261, 109262.
  • Chakrabarti, S., Kolipakam, V., Bump, J. K., & Jhala, Y. V. (2020). The role of kinship and demography in shaping cooperation amongst male lions. Scientific Reports, 10(1), 17527.
  • Kolipakam, V., Singh, S., Ray, S., Prasad, L., Roy, K., Wakid, A., & Qureshi, Q. (2020). Evidence for the continued use of river dolphin oil for bait fishing and traditional medicine: implications for conservation. Heliyon, 6(8).
  • Kolipakam, V., Singh, S., Pant, B., Qureshi, Q., & Jhala, Y. V. (2019). Genetic structure of tigers (Panthera tigris tigris) in India and its implications for conservation. Global Ecology and Conservation, 20, e00710.
  • Kolipakam, V., Jordan, F. M., Dunn, M., Greenhill, S. J., Bouckaert, R., Gray, R. D., & Verkerk, A. (2018). A Bayesian phylogenetic study of the Dravidian language family. Royal Society open science, 5(3), 171504.
  • Maroju, P. A., Yadav, S., Kolipakam, V., Singh, S., Qureshi, Q., & Jhala, Y. (2016). Schrodinger’s scat: a critical review of the currently available tiger (Panthera Tigris) and leopard (Panthera pardus) specific primers in India, and a novel leopard specific primer. BMC genetics, 17, 1-6.
Additional Links
  • https://twitter.com/V_kolipakam
Last updated 20-06-2025
Wildlife Institute of India, an Autonomous Institute of MoEF, Govt. of India
  • Post Box #18, Chandrabani Dehradun 248001 Uttarakhand - India
  • +91 135 2640114 - 15, 2646100
  • wii [at] wii [dot] gov [dot] in

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