Rate My Professor Uma Ramakrishnan

Uma Ramakrishnan is Professor of Environmental Science and Studies at Juniata College, where she holds the positions of Environmental Science and Studies Department Chair and Natural Science Division Head. She joined the Juniata faculty in 2005 as an assistant professor. Ramakrishnan earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry, zoology, and environmental science in 1988 from St. Joseph's College in Bangalore, India. She received a master's degree in ecology in 1990 from Pondicherry University in Pondicherry, India, and a doctoral degree in ecology in 1998 from the University of California, Davis. Her dissertation research focused on predator avoidance behavior in bonnet macaques, a species of Asian monkey.

Prior to her appointment at Juniata College, Ramakrishnan served as chief deer research biologist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station from 2000 to 2005. From 1990 to 1994, following her master's degree, she worked as a conservation biologist at the Asian Elephant Conservation Center of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature in Bangalore, India. Her research specializations encompass male deer reproductive control, deer-vehicle collisions— noting that collision frequency in male deer varies greatly according to season— and home-range use by deer in suburban areas; she continues these investigations at Juniata. Ramakrishnan has published in distinguished journals including the Journal of Wildlife Diseases, Primates, Animal Conservation, Folia Primatologica, Ethology, the Journal of Comparative Psychology, and Biological Conservation. In 1998, she was awarded the Pro Femina Research Award for Women Scholars by the University of California, Davis. Actively engaged in outreach, she has delivered lectures on deer management to audiences such as the Audubon Society, Future Farmers of America, commercial landscapers, nursery professionals, and growers. She established a deer management workshop at Juniata College and has been interviewed by media outlets including NPR and the New York Times.