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Doctor Ajay Narendra
Building 46,
Research School of Biology,
The Australian National University,
Acton, ACT 0200
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T: 61254799
E: ajay.narendra@anu.edu.au
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Biography:
My stint with ants began as a keen naturalist in Western Ghats, India. I did a BSc (2000) in Environmental Sciences with Honours in Entomology at Bangalore University, Bangalore and an MSc (2002) in Remote Sensing & Cartography at Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai. As part of a Cumulative Impact Assessment team at the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore, I investigated ant distribution patterns in Western Ghats. In 2007, I was awarded a PhD from Macquarie University Sydney, for my work on ant navigation in deserts of Central Australia and North Africa. Since then I have held the following postdoctoral positions at The ANU: - 2006-2008: ARC Centre of Excellence in Vision Science Postdoctoral Fellow.
- 2009-2011: ARC Australian Postdoctoral Fellowship.
- 2012-2014: ARC Discovery Early Career Resarcher Award.
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Teaching
- Lectures and practicals for Sensory Physiology and Animal Behaviour (ANU - BIOL3103), since 2007
- Lectures on Animal Navigation (in Brain, Behaviour and Evolution (BBE01), Macquarie University), 2009
- Lectures & practicals for IBRO-ANS Advanced Neuroscience School on Neuroethology, Australia, 2009
- Lectures & practicals for ACEVS-CVS Summer School on Animal Navigation, 2006-2009
Research interests
I am interested in how animals find their way to their places of interest in different ecological and temporal niches. My research interests spans across fields of behavioural ecology, neuroethology, sensory ecology, cognition and community ecology - with a strong focus in myrmecology.
Student research opportunities
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From Animal to Robots and Back
We investigate the knowledge-base of detouring and goal-directed navigation in insects
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Lab members
- Matt Garratt (Adjunct Fellow)
- Piyankarie Jayatilaka (PhD student)
- Eliza Middleton (PhD student)
- Ajay Narendra (Postdoctoral Fellow)
- Shaun New (PhD student)
- Chloe Raderschall (Research Assistant)
- Fiorella Ramirez Esquivel (Honours Student)
- Willi Ribi (Adjunct Professor)
- Bob Taylor (Adjunct Professor)
- Lisa Vlahos (PhD student)
- Jochen Zeil (Lab Leader)
» Go to lab directory
Publications
Selected publications
- 2011. Jayatilaka P, Narendra A, Reid SF, Cooper P & Zeil J. Different effects of temperature on the foraging activity schedule in sympatric Myrmecia ants. Journal of Experimental Biology 214: 2730-2738.
- 2011. Narendra A, Reid SF, Greiner B, Peters RA, Hemmi JM, Ribi WA & Zeil J. Caste-specific visual adaptations to distinct daily activity schedules in Australian Myrmecia ants. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 278: 1141-1149.
- 2011. Narendra A, Gibb H & Ali TMM. Structure of ant assemblages in Western Ghats, India: role of habitat, disturbance and introduced species. Insect Conservation and Diversity 4: 132-141.
- 2011. Schwarz S, Narendra A & Zeil J. The properties of the visual system of the Australian desert ant, Melophorus bagoti. Arthropod Structure & Development 40: 128-134.
- 2011. Reid SF, Narendra A, Hemmi JM & Zeil J. Polarised skylight and the landmark panorama provide night active bull ants with compass information during route following. Journal of Experimental Biology 214: 363-370.
- 2010. Narendra A, Reid SF & Hemmi JM. The twilight zone: ambient light levels trigger activity in primitive ants. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 277: 1531-538.
See complete list of publications
Recent grants
- 2012-2014. Three year Discovery Early Career Researcher Award by the Australian Research Council: Ajay Narendra: "Miniaturisation: sensory limiations and navigational competence".
- 2010-2013. Three year research grant from Hermon Slade Foundation: Ajay Narendra & Jochen Zeil: "The knowledge base of navigation and the foraging cost of being day-active in Australian Jack Jumper ants".
- 2009-2011: Three-year Australian Postdoctoral Fellowship grant by the Australian Research Council [APD]: Ajay Narendra: "Moving between day and night: navigational strategies and the foraging costs of temporal niche partitioning".
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