RESEARCH & MENTORING.
Research Interest Score: 48.4
Citations: 32
h-index: 4
I am an experienced researcher with a strong background in both laboratory and field-based studies. Alongside my research pursuits, I have held several voluntary management positions in academia, contributing to the growth and development of the scientific community. I have successfully executed and published four projects during my PhD tenure. Additionally, during my postdoctoral work, I contributed to eight projects—four as the lead author and four as a co-author—many of which are nearing publication.
"Currently, I am actively involved in guiding, counseling, and mentoring PhD students. I help them identify promising research areas, align their personal and professional goals, and navigate the next steps in their academic journeys. My commitment extends to providing tailored support that empowers students to excel in both their research and career aspirations."
Current Mentorship Project:
Vartika Jain, CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, Lucknow
Title: Screening of Multiclass Xenobiotics in Vegetables and Their Impact on Metabolic Perturbations in Animal Models
Focus: Developing advanced analytical methods using LC-MS/MS and GC-MS/MS to detect pesticides and pharmaceuticals in vegetables and water. The project further evaluates the toxicological effects of these xenobiotics through metabolomic analyses in animal models, with the overarching goal of ensuring food safety and promoting environmental health.
Shatarupa Sarkar, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague
Title: Forest Protection Against Wood-Feeding Termites Using Molecular Tools
Focus: Developing sustainable and targeted RNA interference (RNAi)-based solutions for controlling wood-feeding termites, addressing ecological risks and resistance associated with traditional pesticides, while advancing forest protection strategies through innovative dsRNA delivery systems and nanoparticle carriers.
Skill Expertise.
Specializations:
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Molecular Biology & Analytical Chemistry: Advanced laboratory techniques and instrumentation.
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Project & Data Management: Proficient in project timelines, data visualization, and reporting tools.
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Compliance & Documentation: Skilled in SOP writing, audits, and quality systems.
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Soft Skills: Strong communication, leadership, and organizational abilities.
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Soft Skills:
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Scientific Writing | Technical Writing | Presentation Skills.
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Project Management | Strategic Planning | Cross-functional Collaboration.
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Budget Management | Risk Assessment | Business Acumen.
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Negotiation | Public Relations | Emotional Intelligence.
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Mentorship | Process Improvement (DMAIC, Agile Scrum).
Culturing & Rearing:
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Microbes, nematodes, insects, and plants in specialized climate chambers.
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Behavioral bioassays design and execution.
Analytical Chemistry & Diagnostic Techniques:
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Chromatography: HPLC, UPLC, LC-MS (Single Quad, Triple Quad, QTOF), GC-MS, ICP-MS, TOC, IC, GC-EAG.
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Spectrophotometry, KF titrators, BET, PSD, TD, Rheology.
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Microscopy: Light, SEM/EDX, TEM, Confocal.
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Flow cytometry.
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Software: ChemStation, MassHunter, OpenLab Amdis, TraceFinder, Chameleon.
Molecular Biology Techniques:
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DNA, RNA, Protein Isolation.
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PCR, RT-PCR, q-PCR, ELISA, MALDI-TOF, SDS-PAGE, Western Blot.
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Knockout generation in bacteria/yeast.
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Protein overexpression, purification, Gel Filtration, and Affinity Chromatography (Ni-NTA).
Bioinformatics & Data Analysis:
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Tools: BLAST, Galaxy, UniProt, Ensembl.
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Phylogenetic Analysis: MEGA, BEAST, Mr. Bayes, PartitionFinder.
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Data Analysis: R, JMP, GraphPad, Prism, Power BI.
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Visualization: Adobe Illustrator, ImageJ.
Project & Event Management:
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Tools: MS-Project, MS-Teams, Slack, Toggl.
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Documentation: SharePoint, LIMS, KLARA Chemical Management System.
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Event Coordination: SPLTrak, Vendor Management.
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Writing SOPs, audits, and product documentation.
Software & Tools:
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Office Tools: Excel, PowerPoint, Word.
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Graphic Design: Adobe Premiere Pro, GIMP, Krita, Inkscape, Procreate.
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CRM & Training Platforms: Salesforce, Google Analytics, BambooHR, AI tools
Training & Compliance:
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GDP and GMP Training.
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Aseptic Manufacturing.
EXPERIENCE.
Postdoctoral Researcher at SLU, Alnarp, Sweden
March 2021 - Oct 2023
Project title: “Insect host-plant choice in changing climate”. Project under next Generation Insect Chemical Ecology, and One Health Initiative; Supervisor: Prof. Peter Andersson
Under this project, I am investigating the host-plant choice, dispersal, and migration ability of these insects at the larval stage under the effects of elevated carbon dioxide and its related mechanism to gain perspective on the pest’s niche expansion ability and host switches.
Key highlights:
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Designed and conducted bioassay for measuring dispersal, migration, and host plant choice in insect larvae; and measured their performance on different insect’s host-plant species.
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Volatile profiles emitted by the plants under various environmental conditions were determined and specific volatile compounds were identified that caused the behavioral output using multivariate statistics.
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A transcriptomics study is being carried out to understand the genes that regulate these processes at the adult and larval stages of the pest when reared on plants with different carbon fixation pathways as a food material. (Collaborative project with Dr. Emmanuelle Jacquin-Joly, INRA, IEES, Paris)
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A metagenomic approach opted to determine the microbial population on the plant surface and investigate its impact on plant volatiles. (Collaborative project with Dr. Ramesh Vetukuri, SLU, Alnarp)
Additional projects as a contributing author:
Project 1 title: The Influence of host physiology on host-plant choice in male and female Spodoptera littoralis. | Conducted statistical analysis for the volatiles emitted by the plants; Identified key odor molecules for differentiation and helped in behavioral testing of adults for compound mixtures and individual compounds.
Project 2 title: Parental host-plant experience influencing offspring reproductive output and survival in a generalist moth | Conducted and supervised the statistical analysis for the procured data.
Project 3 title: The influence of host plant physiology on host plant choice in male and female Spodoptera littoralis. | Conducted statistical analysis for the EAG data output Project 4 title: Identification of host-plant associated bacteriome in Spodoptera littoralis host adaptation. | Conducted gut sample collection and measured of the life-history traits of Spodoptera littoralis on different plant diet and cross-diets.
Research Associate at IISc, Bangalore, KA, India
Sept. 2020- Mar 2021
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Integrated MS-PhD Research Scholar
Jul. 2013- Sept. 2020
Project title: “Mating and developmental studies of phoretic nematodes present in a mutualism”. CES, IISc. I investigated phoretic nematodes' developmental pattern and synchronization ability with their host plant and insect. I also looked at the nematode’s mating preference.
PhD thesis title: “Through the looking glass: Phoresy as seen in the light of mutualism”.
I investigated the survival strategies of phoretic organisms (tiny organisms that hitch a ride on large organisms (vehicles) to move out of unsuitable habitats) in mutualistic systems.
Key highlights:
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Distribution and identification of phoretic nematode community present in fig–fig wasp study system (Ficus racemosa as a model system): Using morphological (SEM and confocal imaging) and molecular (phylogenetic analysis) approaches.
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Effect of phoretic organisms on entire mutualism (pollinator and plant): Using both lab and field-based experiments; bioassay to measure pollinator’s fitness (in terms of survival (longevity assay), insect distribution& dispersal ability (flight assay, construction of optical tachometer), predation risk estimation, offspring number) and plant’s fitness (in terms of seed number and fruit size)
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Factors and cues involved in intraspecific vehicle discrimination (distinguish between vehicles belonging to the same species) in phoretic nematodes (~400μm) using behavioral choice experiments.
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Volatile extraction and identification of wasps (~3mm) and plants using SPME-GC-MS
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CO2 estimation using a flow-through respirometer
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R for statistical analyses, mathematical simulations, data analysis, and visualization
Master’s thesis Title: Phoretic relationship of fig wasp nematodes with the pollinating wasp (Ceratosolen fusciceps) and its associated fig (Ficus racemosa) CES, IISc.
Lab projects conducted as part of master’s curriculum, Biological Sciences, IISc. Performed projects in varied biological disciplines to gain molecular biology expertise.
Additional projects:
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Identifying the interacting partners of SUB 1 protein in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Advisor: Prof. V. Nagaraja, Molecular and Cellular Biology, IISc, India.
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Molecular techniques used in HIV vaccine generation, Advisor: Prof. Raghavan Varadarajan, Molecular Biophysics Unit dept, IISc, India.
Clinical lab projects:
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Pesticide detection in samples, Tools and techniques involved: HPLC, UPLC
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Toxic biomolecule testing; Tools and techniques involved: ELISA, Bioassays, HPLC
PUBLICATIONS.
Gupta S., Rosvik A., & Anderson P. “Deciphering the impact of climate change on early larval dispersal, migration and performance of the Spodoptera littoralis”. (Data collection complete, final draft preparation ongoing).
Gupta S., Rosvik A., & Anderson P. “Influence of climate change on larval host-plant choice of Spodoptera littoralis” (Data collection complete, final draft preparation ongoing).
Rösvik A., Gupta S., Ericson M., Green K. K., & Anderson P. “Parental host-plant experience influencing offspring reproductive output and survival in a generalist moth. (Data collection complete, final draft preparation ongoing) Thesis submission (2023).
Rösvik A., Gupta S., Bengtsson M., Bohman B., & Anderson P. “The influence of host-plant physiology on host-plant choice in male and female Spodoptera littoralis”. Thesis submission (2023).
De T. D., Pelletier J., Gupta S., Prasad K.M., Singh O. P., Dixit R., Ignell R., & Karmodiya “Circadian oscillation of perireceptor events influence olfactory sensitivity in diurnal and nocturnal mosquitoes”. Submitted to Current Biology, (2023).DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.10.19.563057
Gupta S., Tahseen Q, & Borges R.M. “Three New Species of Nematodes from the Syconia of Ficus Racemosa in Southern India”, SSRN Electronic Journal, (2023).
Gupta S., Kumble A.L.K., Dey K., Bessière J.-M., & Borges R.M. “The scent of life: phoretic nematodes use wasp volatiles and carbon dioxide to choose functional vehicles for dispersal”, Journal of Chemical Ecology, DOI: 10.1007/s10886-021-01242-5 (2021).
Gupta S. & Borges R.M. “Hopping on: Conspecific traveller density within a vehicle regulates parasitic hitchhiking between ephemeral microcosms”, Journal of Animal Ecology, DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13418 (2020).
Gupta S. & Borges R.M. “Density-dependent fitness effects stabilize parasitic hitchhiking within a mutualism” Functional Ecology, DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13451 (2019).
TEACHING
& MENTORING.
2022, Mentored a high school student Jakob Termen, Gymnasiearbetet, Lund
2022, a PhD student Axel Rosvik, SLU, Alnarp, Sweden.2022,
2022, Teaching assistantship for Course PLS0081 Analytical Methods in Chemical Ecology, SLU, Alnarp, Sweden
2016, Teaching assistantship for Courses (a) DB202‐General Biology (b) EC302‐Plant-Animal Interactions: Ecology, Behavior and Evolution, CES, IISc, India
2019, Prajwal Bharadwaj (UG from Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Bhopal, MP, India) project on understanding the natural history and behaviors of stink bug (Pentatomidae) on Ficus racemosa.
2018, Payal Dash (Master’s student, summer intern under Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY) national program of fellowship in basic sciences): project on mate recognition in phoretic nematodes.
2018, Ispsita Gayen (Master’s student, summer intern from Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Kolkata (WB), India): project on disembarkment of phoretic nematodes from their vehicles.
2018, Vaishali Narayanan (Integrated PhD student from IISc, Bangalore): project on mate signaling and vehicle choice in phoretic nematodes.Modeling, data analysis, and natural history data collection.
2017, Saswata Chaterjee (Undergraduate student from IISc, Bangalore): project on a mathematical approach to determine the probability of successful colonization of host and population dynamics of host and vehicle when in a phoretic association.