Hi. Thanks for visiting my website.

I am an ecologist, and I spend my time thinking about the origins, structure, maintenance, and consequences of diversity.

I believe that Black Lives Matter and that we need to work hard to overcome the pernicious effects of systemic racism and colonialism in the US and across the world.


I am an Assistant Professor at the Louisiana State University Department of Biological Sciences. I came to LSU after working as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Missouri, and completed my PhD at the University of California, Los Angeles.

My research is generally focused on the ecology and evolution of species interactions. I am also deeply committed to making science a more inclusive endeavor by reimagining how we work in our classrooms and research communities. For more details on my interests and process, please take a look around this site, including my research interests and values. You can also browse my CV for an overview of where I’ve been and what I’ve done.

If you are interested in joining my lab as student or postdoc, I would love to hear from you! Please see the join page for more information, and email me at gaurav.kandlikar@gmail.com to discuss opportunities.1

Sunrise at the White Mountains


  1. Contacting a potential faculty mentor can feel intimidating, especially if you are seeking out opportunities for undergraduate research or as a potential graduate student. This post from Científico Latino provides great pointers on writing an initial contact email. Above all, please remember that if you are interested in joining my group after learning about my work, I will be as excited to meet with you as you will be about me! And if you don’t get a response from me within a week, please send a follow-up email - I promise I won’t ever ignore your message on purpose! ↩