Mr. Prateek Dey is a Ph.D. candidate at Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Through his doctoral thesis, he aims to assess genomic variations in select species of wild and domestic quails. Utilizing a combination of field data, next generation sequencing methods and bioinformatics tools, he aims to comprehensively map differences amongst morphologically similar quail species at a genomic scale. The findings of his doctoral thesis have been presented and published in various national and international conferences and journals.
Mr. Dey graduated with a degree in Integrated M.Sc. in life sciences from the Central University of Tamil Nadu. He has qualified for national level examinations such as GATE, CUCET and BU-CET with top ranks. Apart from academic interests in genetics, he likes to spend time trekking, birding and exploring serene or unexplored nature reserves. He also has a keen interest in cooking and in reading books related to historical events and personalities.
During his Fulbright Nehru Doctoral Research fellowship, Mr. Dey is studying the demographic history and phylogenetic topology of Coturnix quails through whole genome approaches. He is working on assembling a high-quality genome of Coturnix coturnix, tracing its demographic history through coalescent modelling and generating a species level phylogenetic tree of the same. Through collaborative efforts, the findings of this study will bring forth a plethora of genome based evolutionary inferences that will be of high conservation importance for a wide variety of co-generic species in India.