Ep. 5 - The Flight of The Draco - With R. Chaitanya

In episode five of 'Politics, Ecology, and Everything in Between,' Rajeev interviews Chaitanya, a former IBM researcher who transitioned to herpetology and evolutionary biology. Chaitanya discusses his fascination with Draco lizards, their unique gliding ability, and the hypothesis that this trait evolved due to the presence of tall dipterocarp trees in Southeast Asia. The conversation explores Chaitanya's research journey, including his fieldwork across India, his PhD at Tel Aviv University, and the broader implications of his findings on the association between tall trees and gliding vertebrates globally. They also touch upon the challenges of conservation amid deforestation and the potential future directions for Chaitanya's research.