Dr Upama Aich is a behavioural and evolutionary biologist whose research focuses on how environmental and anthropogenic changes, such as pharmaceutical and agricultural pollution, affect animal behaviour, life history traits, reproduction and ecosystem functions. As a Forrest Fellow at the University of Western Australia, her work explores how hormonal growth promotants (HGPs) used in livestock farming influence dung beetles, which play a vital role in maintaining healthy soils, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving agricultural productivity.
Upama previously worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Monash University, where she studied the long-term effects of pharmaceutical pollutants on freshwater fish. Her research focused on their behaviour, reproduction, life history traits and intergenerational effects. She earned her PhD at the Australian National University, where she explored how male age and mating history influence reproductive success and offspring fitness in mosquitofish.
Motivated by her passion for research, Upama seeks to understand changes in animal ecology and evolution in our constantly changing world.