Inputs by Shreya Agarwal
The Molecular Ecology Prize is given annually by the online journal – The Molecular Ecologist. The objective of the prize is to recognise outstanding scientists in the field of Molecular Ecology – a new stream of science. There are no established prizes in this niche field.
Molecular Ecology combines two disciplines – molecular biology – genetics in particular, and ecology – conservation. Where genetic studies are used to protect the environment or help the conservation of species, that is molecular ecology.
The 2023 Molecular Ecology Prize has been awarded to Dr. Uma Radhakrishnan. She is a Professor of Ecology and Evolution at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore. Her studies usually revolve around tiger and other mammals.
Her research contains a wide variety of data from camera traps and genetic surveys, historical findings from genetic information and museum samples, and displays of gene flow impacting genomic variation and inbreeding depression.
Her research has also been used for providing evidence in a Supreme Court ruling that wildlife corridors must be included in certain highway expansions.
The previous winner of this prize was Dr. Kerstin Johannesson, who was bestowed with the award in 2022. Dr. Johannesson, a trained marine ecologist, is well known for her research of 40+ years, on how marine animals adapt to their environment.
Glossary:
1. Poster child: a person/object that represents a cause, situation, activity, etc.
2. Camera Trap: a type of digital camera with an infrared sensor that senses movements of “warm objects” like animals, and captures them. It is a harmless method of capturing movements of wild animals in forests and protected areas for a variety of reasons, although mainly for the purposes of research and studies.
3. Gene Flow: As the term suggests, it is the flow of genes from one population to another, of the same species.
4. Genomic Variation: As inferred by the term, genomic variation is the variation between the genes (DNA) of two or more individuals of the same species. There is always some sort of genomic variation in between two generations.
5. Inbreeding depression: Inbreeding refers to the breeding/mating of related individuals (of the same population in a species). Inbreeding depression is the decline in the biological fitness of an individual which is a result of inbreeding.
Image credit: Twitter of Dr. Uma Ramakrishnan @uramakri