I hold a doctorate in Natural Sciences with specialization in Geobiology from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany. I was awarded the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Program) scholarship for four years (2011-2015) for PhD, which allowed me to pursue a project on climate change response of corals from a molecular perspective. Earlier, I completed BSc in Zoology (2006) and MSc in Biochemistry (2008) from North Maharashtra University, Jalgaon. Before moving to Germany for my PhD, I  worked as Project Assistant at National Centre for Cell Science, Pune on amphibian DNA barcoding as well as molecular microbial ecology. Subsequently, I worked as a Junior Research Fellow (2010-2011) and later as Scientist C (2019-2021) with Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai on Molecular Systematics of corals and molluscs. I was also awarded the National Postdoctoral Fellowship (NPDF) by DST-SERB for two years during which I was able to reveal novel unrecognized genotypes of corals in the Gulf of Kutch (GoK), India. Moreover, I was able to identify correlation between photosymbiont & bacterial diversity, health status, and adaptive potential of corals of Lakshadweep and GoK. I am currently working as a postdoctoral researcher on National Science Foundation’s EPSCoR project where I am focusing at understanding molecular ecology of reef-building corals and their microbiomes using conventional methods as well as cutting-edge genomics and transcriptomic techniques in an effort to understand climate change impact and response  to aid the conservation efforts. I would like to continue exploring coral systematics and biodiversity along with their eco-evolutionary response to changing future oceans from a molecular genetic perspective.