Education

Ph.D., State University of New York at Buffalo
M.S., Pondicherry University
B.Sc., St. Joseph’s College

Biography

Current Grant Support
RIMI Program, Spelman College

Courses Taught

Bio 110: Biological communities and populations
Bio 325: Evolution in action
Bio 425: Ecology
Bio 100: Biology of women
Bio 285-485: Sophomore Senior seminar
Bio 487: Research methods in evolution
FYE 101-102: First Year Experience

Research Interests

My interests are in the general area of evolutionary biology and ecology and specifically in the area of behavioral ecology and host-parasite evolution.

Recent studies have shown a variety of ways in which a ‘battle of the sexes’ plays out between males and females of different species, and how each sex tries to manipulate the other to protect their own reproductive interests. My research uses the red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum) to study female multiple mating behavior and the conflict of interests between the sexes. The results of this research will yield insights into the evolution of reproductive biology and perhaps even speciation.

Publications

Zhong D., A. Pai and G.Yan. 2005. Costly resistance to parasitism: evidence from simultaneous quantitative trait loci mapping for resistance and fitness. "Genetics" 169: 2127-2135. 

Pai, A., L. Bennett and G. Yan. 2005. Female multiple mating for fertility assurance in red flour beetles?"Canadian Journal of Zoology." 83: 913-919.