Ankit Raj

About Me

I am a PhD student in Quantitative Biosciences at Georgia Tech, working in the Spatial Ecology & Paleontology Lab with Prof. Jenny McGuire. My research uses the fossil record and paleofire databases to understand how climate change and large wildfire events have reshaped mammalian communities over long temporal scales — and what trait–environment relationships from past ecosystems can tell us about how mammals may respond to future change.

I completed my BS-MS in Geological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science Education & Research (IISER), Kolkata, in 2023.

Research Interests

Paleofire & Fire Ecology
Mammalian Community Evolution
Ecometrics & Trait-Environment Relationships
Spatial Ecology & Connectivity Modeling
Conservation Paleobiology

Research Projects

Paleofire & Mammalian Community

With Prof. Jenny McGuire (Georgia Tech)

Integrating paleofire database with mammal fossil data to understand how megafires, human influence and climate change affect functional trait diversity across temporal and spatial scales.

Disruption in Trait-Environment Relationships in African Large Mammals

With Prof. Jenny McGuire (Georgia Tech) & Dr. Michelle Lawing (Texas A&M)

Quantifying trait-environment relationships using ecometric modeling and evaluating point connectivity using Omniscape connectivity modeling. Developed novel methods for analyzing ecometric anomaly significance.

Patterns of Ecospace Utilization in Marine Invertebrates (MS Thesis)

With Dr. Subhronil Mondal (IISER Kolkata) & Prof. Phillip Novack-Gottshall (Benedictine University)

Quantified ecological diversity using theoretical ecospace framework. Analyzed ecospace structuring in the aftermath of the Permian-Triassic mass extinction and during the Mesozoic Marine Revolution. Used machine learning to classify models of ecological diversification.

Fieldwork

Natural Trap Cave, Wyoming (2025)

Pleistocene Mammals

Descending into Natural Trap Cave

Me when I found my first mammal teeth fossils

Got exposure to mammalian fossil identification, cave stratigraphy and geology of Wyoming in a two-week-long field trip at Natural Trap Cave, one of North America's most significant fossil localities for Late Pleistocene megafauna.

Gujarat, West Coast of India (2023)

Paleontology & Stratigraphy - Marine Invertebrates

Fieldwork on the West Coast of India

Marine bivalve fossil specimen

Fieldwork along the West Coast of India studying marine invertebrate fossil assemblages and stratigraphic sequences. Collected and documented corals and molluscs specimens in guidance with Dr. Subhronil Mondal (IISER Kolkata).

Galudih, Jharkhand, India

Petrology & Structural Geology

Taking structural geology measurements

With a Dike, Galudih

Geological fieldwork focused on petrological analysis and structural geological mapping in the Jharkhand region of India, examining rock fabric, deformation structures, and lithological variations.

Teaching Experience

Graduate Teaching Assistant - Georgia Institute of Technology

Fall 2025 - Introduction to Environmental Sciences (3 sections, 66 students total)
Spring 2025 - Earth Processes (19 students)
Fall 2024 - Introduction to Environmental Science (22 students)

Teaching Assistant - IISER Kolkata

2023 - Paleontology Laboratory (3rd year, 11 students)
2023 - Earth System Processes (1st year, 50 students)
2022 - Earth and Planetary Sciences (1st year, 50 students)