Qualifications:

M.Sc. Biodiversity, MES Abasaheb Garware College, Pune (2017)

B.Sc. Zoology, SIES College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Mumbai (2015)

Email: shawn27.dsouza@gmail.com

Profile: While he is trained as an ecologist, Shawn also recognises that humans are part of natural systems and he tries incorporating this philosophy in all aspects of his work. His research deals with how the behaviour of individual animals creates and affects large scale patterns in ecosystems. He is particularly interested in how humans who interact with these system alter processes at multiple scales. He has worked on a variety of taxa in different systems including birds, butterflies, sea snakes, sharks and now, reef fish; however, anthropogenic change has been the central theme of his work. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. at the Center for Ecological Sciences, IISc. At Dakshin, he helps manage the sharks and rays’ projects, our long-term engagement at Malvan, Maharashtra and contributes to ongoing projects in the Andaman Islands.

Publications

Peer – reviewed publications

• Dsouza, S., & Padhye, A. (2022). A cross taxonomic comparison of bird and butterfly communities of Tamhini Wildlife Sanctuary across two decades. Current Science, in press.
• Dsouza, S., Rao, C., Manoharakrishnan, M., & Shanker, K. (2021). Resource use and the impacts of fisheries on two sympatric sea snake species on the west coast of India. Marine Biology, 168(9), 1-11.
• Dsouza, S., & Rao, C. (2021). Demographics and reproductive biology of Hydrophis
  schistosus may make it more resilient to bycatch effects than other sea snakes. Regional Studies in Marine Science, 47, 101948.
• Rao, C., Dsouza, S., Gupta, T., Manoharakrishnan, M., & Lobo, A. S. (2021). Fisheries induced shift in sea snake community assemblages along the Konkan coast, India. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 31(9), 2402-2411.
• Jojan, A., Dsouza, S., Mukerjee, P., Rao, C., & Shanker, K. (2018). Critiquing narrow critiques of convention on biological diversity. Economic & Political Weekly, 53(44), 17.

Popular Articles

• Dsouza, S. 2020. Locked Down in a Fishing Town. The Bastion.
• Dsouza, S. 2019. Scaly Business – A Day in the life of a sea snake ecologist.
  Current Conservation. 13.2.
• Creasey, M. and Dsouza, S. 2019. Sailing into an uncertain future. Current Conservation. 13.3.