Other links:
Other links:
Visiting Faculty, Environmental Studies, Ashoka University
Ph.D. Yale University
Akshay Surendra is a field ecologist interested in research, teaching, open data, and storytelling. His doctoral dissertation research explores how contrasting forms of symbiotic root fungi determine outcomes of competition among rainforest trees (Sri Lanka). He has also studied bird dynamics in fragmented rainforests (Western Ghats) and forest recovery in logged contrasting types of rainforests (Andaman Islands). He current research interest is the natural history of Sal (Shorea robusta) forests.
Prior to joining Ashoka University, Akshay helped the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF-India) clean, organise and liberate their datasets in the public domain. He has taught and mentored students at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, co-produced two podcasts about nature, and led several talks and workshops for scientists, forest managers and civil society. Akshay was a visiting professor at Ashoka University in Monsoon 2025 as well.
JOURNAL ARTICLES:
1. Surendra, Akshay, … Comita, Liza. “Feedbacks in a mixed mycorrhizal rainforest in Sri Lanka are more stabilizing in the field than in the shadehouse.” Plant and Soil (2026)
2. Surendra, Akshay, and TR Shankar Raman. “Fragment area and habitat quality underlie temporal decline and community changes in rainforest birds within long-isolated fragments.” Ornithological Applications (2026)
3. Surendra, Akshay, … Comita, Liza. “Neighbourhood effects on tree seedlings differ by mycorrhizal symbiont type in a mixed dipterocarp forest.” Journal Of Vegetation Science (2026)
4. Surendra, Akshay, Anand M. Osuri, and Jayashree Ratnam. “Varying impacts of logging frequency on tree communities and carbon storage across evergreen and deciduous tropical forests in the Andaman Islands, India.” Forest Ecology and Management (2021)
BOOK CHAPTER:
5. Karanth, Krithi K., and Surendra Akshay. “Species and sites matter: Understanding human–wildlife interactions from 5,000 surveys in India.” Conservation and development in India. Routledge (2018). 61-82.
2019 — 2025 Stipend, tuition, and research support for doctoral research, Lewis B. Cullman Fellowship, New York Botanical Garden, USA
2020 — 2022 Research and travel grants from the Tropical Resoures Institute, Macmillan Foundation, South Asia Studies council, Yale Institute of Biospheric Studies, and the School of the Environment, Yale University
2016 — 2018 Tuition, stipend and research support for graduate studies and research, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
1. Return of the wild: Science and Practice of Ecological Restoration and Rewilding — Monsoon 2026, Ashoka University
2. Wrangle and Visualise data in R —
Monsoon 2025 & 2026, Ashoka University
3. Fantastic Plants and where we find them (and why) —
Monsoon 2025, Ashoka University
4. Introduction to R programming —
2022 and 2024, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore
