Gaurav Kandlikar is a postdoc at the University of Missouri, where his research focuses on how soil microorganisms and abiotic heterogeneity shape plant species coexistence. He became fascinated with mathematical ecology during the final year of his undergraduate, when he realized that he was learning how the same mathematical framework can be used to study predator-prey models in an ecology class (functional responses with handling time), and enzyme kinetics in a biochemistry class (Michelis-Menten dynamics).

Gaurav’s love for ecology has roots in his childhood in southern India, which he spent scrambling up trees and watching lots of Animal Planet. He’s always happy to talk about ecological models, diversity in EEB, pedagogy, running, and cooking.

For more about Gaurav, check out his website.