Deyatima Ghosh

Assistant Professor

School of Environment & Sustainability

deyatima dot ghosh at iihs dot ac dot in

Deyatima Ghosh is a field ecologist and animal cognition biologist. She brings perspectives from these two fields to understand how animals behave in the wild and apply these insights to the conservation of species and the ecosystem services they provide. Her work spans a range of landscapes, from forests and agroecosystems to urban habitats, and covers multiple taxa, including amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

She received her PhD in Ecology (Zoology) from the University of Calcutta in 2021, following which she held postdoctoral positions at the University of Lincoln, UK; Nanjing Forestry University, China; and the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), India.

She served as Visiting Faculty at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Berhampur (2025), and as Assistant Professor at Jain University, Bengaluru (2025–26).

Thematic areas

Ecosystems, Sustainability Science, Climate Change, Built Environment, Ecology and Conservation, Animal Cognition and Conservation Behaviour, Biodiversity Monitoring, Urban Ecology

Education

2021 – PhD, Zoology, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India
2014 – MSc (Hons.), Zoology (Specialisation: Genetics, Wildlife Biology), University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India
2012 – BSc (Hons.), Zoology, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India

Ghosh, D., Gayakawad, D., & Borzée, A. (2026). Curious luteolus: Territoriality in Raorchestes luteolus with a description of advertisement and aggressive calls. Ethology Ecology & Evolution, 38(1), 107–124. https://doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2026.2630789
Ghosh, D., Prasad, V., & Borzée, A. (2026). Life stage and interspecies variation in salamander quantity discrimination and incipient learning. Behavioural Processes, 237, 105360. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2026.105360
Heo, K., Ghosh, D., Messenger, K., & Othman, S. (2026). Ocean romance: Japanese treefrogs exploit coastal pools for breeding under salinity and habitat constraints. Ecology and Evolution, 16(6), e73744. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.73744
Othman, S., Tohr, M., Ghosh, D., Nadia, S., Aziz, M., Noor, N., Mazlan, N., & Borzée, A. (2026). Disturbance effects on anuran communities and relative fitness across urban-adjacent forests of Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo. PeerJ, 14, e21482. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.21482
Pasul, Y., Aditya, V., & Ghosh, D. (2026). First records of common sand boas (Eryx conicus) from Papikonda National Park, northern Eastern Ghats, India. Reptiles & Amphibians, 33(1). https://doi.org/10.17161/randa.v33i1.22298
Aditya, V., Pasul, Y., & Ghosh, D. (2025). At a crossroads: Impacts of a major highway on mammal occurrence in a biodiverse tropical forest. Biotropica, 57(6). https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.70131
Borzée, A., Prasad, V., Naem, K., Tarrant, J., Kosch, T., Barata, I., Rais, M., Bickford, D., Fonte, L., Wilcken, J., Ghosh, D., Mindje, M., Naik, H., Chanson, J., & Wren, S. (2025). Conservation priorities for global amphibian biodiversity. Nature Reviews Biodiversity, 1, 754–771. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44358-025-00101-5
Ghosh, D. (2025). Giving a cold shoulder: Why and how do we conserve farmland herpetofauna in India? Environmental Conservation, 52(1), 3–8. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0376892924000316
Ghosh, D., Fan, L., & Borzée, A. (2025). Water quality parameters for larvae of the clawed salamanders Onychodactylus zhaoermii and Onychodactylus zhangyapingi. Russian Journal of Herpetology, 32(1), 33–39. https://doi.org/10.30906/1026-2296-2025-32-1-33-39
Ghosh, D., Prasad, V., Kohler, D. B., & Borzée, A. (2025). First evidence of diverse inhibitory control abilities in pre- and post-metamorphic salamanders. Integrative Zoology, 21(4), 724–732. https://doi.org/10.1111/1749-4877.70030
Melo, I., Jardim, L., Valencia-Zuleta, A., Borzée, A., Rödel, M.-O., Webster, G. N., Prasad, V., Ghosh, D., Mahony, M., Diniz-Filho, J. A. F., & Llusia, D. (2025). Anuran mating systems: The role of climate, life history traits, and sex ratio. Behavioral Ecology, 36(2). https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/araf006
Ojha, S., Ghosh, D., Kumara, H., Singh, M., & Chetan Nag, K. S. (2025). Fragmented habitats, fragmented knowledge: Reassessing a forgotten folivore, the Nilgiri langur (Semnopithecus johnii) in the changing Western Ghats (1884–2025). Primate Conservation, 39.
Ghosh, D., Aditya, V., & Aravind, N. (2024). Unsung heroes: What does herpetofauna do for us? Journal of Herpetology, 58(2), 83–97. https://doi.org/10.1670/23-026
Ghosh, D., & Borzée, A. (2024). Biological pest regulation can benefit from diverse predation modes. Royal Society Open Science, 11(9). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.240535
Kohler, D. B., Zhang, X., Messenger, K. R., Chin, K., Ghosh, D., Othman, S. N., Wang, Z., Amin, H., Prasad, V. K., Wu, Z., & Borzée, A. (2024). At home in Jiangsu: Habitat suitability modelling and new records for five species of amphibian and reptile in Jiangsu, China. Herpetozoa, 37, 85–93. https://doi.org/10.3897/herpetozoa.37.e117370
Pasul, Y., Aditya, V., & Ghosh, D. (2024). Hoplobatrachus tigerinus (Indian bullfrog): Predation. Herpetological Review.
Ghosh, D. (2024). What are we saving? The amphibians and reptiles of the rice paddies in Balasore, India. Reptiles & Amphibians, 31(1). https://doi.org/10.17161/randa.v31i1.20815
Ghosh, D., & Basu, P. (2023). Does agricultural intensification impact pest regulation service by frogs in a natural multi-trophic system? Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation, 21(3), 216–223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pecon.2023.06.002
Ghosh, D., & Borzée, A. (2023). Leech parasitism in Strauchbufo raddei (Strauch, 1876). Herpetological Review, 54(3).
Ghosh, D., Fan, L., & Borzée, A. (2023). Gloydius ussuriensis (Ussuri pit viper): Hunting. Herpetological Review, 54(3).
Ghosh, D., John, E. A., & Wilkinson, A. (2023). Clever pest control? The role of cognition in biological pest regulation. Animal Cognition, 26, 189–197. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-022-01731-4
Ghosh, D., & Kannan, A. (2023). First report of colour dilution in yellow-billed babbler (Argya affinis) from Male Mahadeshwara Wildlife Sanctuary, India. Zoo’s Print, 38(7), 22–23.
Ghosh, D., & Basu, P. (2021). Collation of indigenous and local knowledge as evidence base for herpetofauna conservation outside protected areas: Case study from an agricultural landscape in eastern India. Proceedings of the Zoological Society, 75, 161–172. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12595-021-00386-2
Ghosh, D., & Basu, P. (2020). Factors influencing herpetofauna abundance and diversity in a tropical heterogeneous landscape mosaic. Biotropica, 52(5), 927–937. https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.12799
Ghosh, D., & Basu, P. (2018). Herpetofauna in agricultural landscape: A case study from Odisha. ENVIS Newsletter, 24(1), 9–11.

Ghosh, D. (2026, May 3–5). Being close to humans: How human food provisioning intensity shapes food-extraction strategies in free-ranging rhesus macaques? [Paper presentation]. Society for Conservation Biology Asia Chapter Conference.
Ghosh, D. (2025, November 24–28). Where highways meet habitats: How roads shape animal behaviour, survival, and coexistence in the northern Eastern Ghats [Paper presentation]. Eastern Ghats Symposium, IISER Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India.
Ghosh, D. (2025, October 30–November 1). How animals coexist: From space to spats: How urban environments affect territorial disputes in Raorchestes luteolus [Paper presentation]. Indian Society of Evolutionary Biology 6 (ISEB 6), IISER Berhampur, Odisha, India.
Ghosh, D. (2025, September 22–25). SMART MOVES: Mapping evolutionary flexibility in animals using phylogenetic tools to trace adaptability for conservation insight [Workshop session]. Student Conference on Conservation Science (SCCS), Bangalore, India.
Ghosh, D. (2025, August 25–30). Cognition in pest predators: A missing link in sustainable agriculture [Paper presentation]. 38th International Ethological Congress (Behaviour 2025), Kolkata, India.
Ghosh, D. (2025, August 25–30). Implications of animal cognition [Symposium session]. 38th International Ethological Congress (Behaviour 2025), Kolkata, India.
Ghosh, D. (2025, June 15–19). Rethinking pest control: Predator cognition for sustainable agriculture [Paper presentation]. International Congress for Conservation Biology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Ghosh, D. (2024, August 5–8). Adaptive trait of a forager’s success: Differential numeric abilities in two salamander species pre- and post-metamorphosis [Paper presentation]. 10th World Congress of Herpetology (WCH10), Sarawak, Malaysia.
Ghosh, D. (2024, August 5–8). Adaptive traits in changing environments: Survival in the Anthropocene [Symposium session]. 10th World Congress of Herpetology (WCH10), Sarawak, Malaysia.
Ghosh, D. (2023, July 17–19). Detour task-solving ability in the larva of Hynobius yiwuensis [Paper presentation]. East Asian Federation of Ecological Societies (EAFES) Congress, Jeju, South Korea. (Best Oral Presentation Award).
Ghosh, D. (2022, December 18–21). Clever pest regulation? Patch learning can significantly improve pest consumption in wild Calotes versicolor [Paper presentation]. British Ecological Society Annual Meeting, Edinburgh, UK.
Ghosh, D. (2022, December 6–9). Exploring predator cognition to understand ecosystem service provisioning: A new approach to bioregulation of crop pests [Paper presentation]. The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour Conference, Edinburgh, UK.
Ghosh, D. (2022, November 17–18). Can biological pest regulation benefit from integrating predator cognition? [Paper presentation]. Animal Behaviour Live Congress 2022.
Ghosh, D. (2021, December 6–9). How animals do what they do? Role of cognition in biocontrol [Paper presentation]. Rufford Conference, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
Ghosh, D. (2019, December 10–13). Impact of agricultural intensification on herpetofauna diversity at multiple scales in an intensive agricultural landscape [Paper presentation]. British Ecological Society Annual Meeting, Belfast, UK.
Ghosh, D. (2019, February 8–11). How agricultural intensification affects herpetofaunal diversity [Paper presentation]. Rufford India Conference, Corbett, Ramnagar, Uttarakhand, India.
Ghosh, D. (2018, March 15–17). A farmer’s perception of herpetofauna status along an agricultural intensification gradient [Paper presentation]. 5th India Biodiversity Meet (International Conference), Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, India. (Third Prize).
Ghosh, D. (2018, February 5–7). A farmer’s perception of herpetofauna status along an agricultural intensification gradient [Paper presentation]. Facets of Basic Sciences & Applications (FBSA) Conference.
Ghosh, D. (2018, February 1–3). Farmer’s perception of herpetofauna along an agricultural intensification gradient [Paper presentation]. INTZOOCON, Department of Zoology, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India. (Second Prize).
Ghosh, D. (2017, April 23–26). Farmer’s perception of herpetofauna along an agricultural intensification gradient [Paper presentation]. Rufford India Conference.
Ghosh, D. (2015). Young Investigators’ Colloquium. Department of Zoology, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India.

Projects before IIHS

Close to humans: Personality differences in rhesus macaques in response to human interactions in a tropical forest in India
Assessing reptile cognition and its role in biological pest control amidst future climate warming in a tropical agroforest landscape in India
Interpreting the effects of noise on biodiversity and ecosystem services
Effect of habitat structure on frog breeding behaviour in the North Eastern Ghats
Ecosystem service provision by herpetofauna as natural pest control agents: Assessment and awareness building
Herpetofaunal diversity and conservation in eastern Indian agroecosystems
Primate novel use of tools and strategies (P-NUTS)
How giants respond to humans: Giant squirrel nesting and thermoregulatory behaviour in response to anthropogenic interventions
House crow adaptation to urban habitats (CAWgnition)
Amphibian habitat occupancy and personality (A-HOP)
Herpetofauna ecology and roadkill prevention (HERP)
Mammal ecology and conservation (MaC)

Enabling India's urban transformation

Educating the next generation of interdisciplinary urban practitioners, entrepreneurs and scholars

Urban transformation using interdisciplinary knowledge, learning and problem-solving

Sustainable learning, research, doing and living

Deyatima Ghosh

Thematic areas

Education

Countries

States and UTs in India

Cities in India

Languages

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Enabling India's urban transformation

Educating the next generation of interdisciplinary urban practitioners, entrepreneurs and scholars

Urban transformation using interdisciplinary knowledge, learning and problem-solving

Sustainable learning, research, doing and living

Deyatima Ghosh

Thematic areas

Education

Countries

States and UTs in India

Cities in India

Languages

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