Saneesh Cherapurath Soman
Contact/Address
Saneesh Cherapurath Soman
Doctoral Researcher 'Spatial Interaction Ecology'
Department of Community Ecology
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ/
German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
Puschstraße 4
D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
(postal address)
Tel: +49 341 9733188
Room: A.02.04
saneesh.soman@idiv.de
www.idiv.de
Research
My current doctoral research focuses on understanding separate and interactive effects of fire and grass presence on herbaceous and woody plant communities.
Other Research Interests:
• Population dynamics of plants
• Plant functional traits in relation to fire
• Factors influencing phenology of dry deciduous trees
• Forest resources in community managed lands
• Fire ecology
• Endemic flora and fauna of the Eastern Ghats
• Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), land management, and livelihoods
• Citizen science (seasonwatch, ebird)
• Conservation education (wisdom walks to transfer TEK to young generations
Curriculum Vitae
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
02/2021 - present
Doctoral Researcher in the Research Group Spatial Interaction Ecology (SIE), Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH – UFZ, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig.
05/2020 - 07/2020
Research Contractor at Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research- UFZ, Leipzig, Germany.
Program Manager at Foundation for Ecological Security, Madanapalle, Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh
EDUCATION
07/2007 - 06/2009
Master of Science
in Geography from University of Madras, Tamil Nadu, India.
TEACHING AND MENTORING
2016 - 2021
Guest lecturer at the School of Livelihoods and Development, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad. Courses: Introduction to ecology and ecological health monitoring frameworks
2017
Mentoring of
4 master students from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad
2 master students from Centre for technology Alternatives for Rural Area (CTARA) of IIT, Bombay
2018
Mentoring of
1 master student from Azim Premji University
2019
Mentoring of
1 bachelor student from University of Delhi
1 master student from Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa
6 master students from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad
In my role as Program Manager at Foundation for Ecological Security, I provided logistical support and scientific feedback to students
Scientific Presentations
2011
Village conservation centres: An indigenous effort to conserve Cycas circinalis. The Cycad Biology Conference Shenzhen, China
2007
Harvesting techniques and quality of resin – A Case study of Canarium strictum in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. Indian Institute of Natural Resins and Gums, Ranchi, India
Peer-reviewed Publications
V. Krishnamurthy, L. Mandle, T. Ticktin, R. Ganesan, C.S. Saneesh, A. Varghese. 2013. Conservation status and effects of harvest on an endemic multi-purpose cycad, Cycas circinalis L., Western Ghats, India. Tropical Ecology 54: 309-320.
U.V. Neeraja, S. Rajendrakumar, C.S. Saneesh, V. Dyda, T.M. Knight. 2021. Fire alters diversity, composition, and structure of dry tropical forests in the Eastern Ghats, India. Ecology and Evolution 11: 6593-6603.