• Bio

Education

• M.B.A. (2023); Commonwealth Master of Business Administration. University of Guyana, Guyana S.A.
• Ph.D. Biology (2016); Focus areas: Evolution, Ecology, Behaviour and Systematics, University of Missouri St.Louis, U.S.A.
• M.Sc. Plant and Environmental Sciences (2011); University of Warwick, U.K.
• Dip. at Professional Level (2006); Cambridge International Diploma for Teachers and Trainers. University of Cambridge, U.K.
• B.Sc. Biology (2005); University of Guyana. Guyana S.A.

Biography
Dr. Maharaj's research on butterflies began over a decade ago and includes work on diversity, behavior, genetics, physiology, and ecology of neo-tropical species in multiple habitats. She graduated from the University of Guyana, Guyana, with a B.Sc. in Biology, where she received the John Caesar Prize in Plant Physiology, from the University of Warwick, UK, with a M.Sc. in Plant and Environmental Sciences, and from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, USA, with a Ph.D. in Biology (Bourne and Dunlap Labs), focus areas, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior, and Systematics, where she received the Arnold Grobman Prize. Further, she pursued an MBA at the University of Guyana, where she was named the Best Graduating MBA student in the 2023 Cohort.

Teaching

• BIO1200: Genetics & Evolution
• BIO1202: Laboratory and Field Biology II
• BIO4113: Entomology
• BIO6000: Level Courses (MSc Forest Biology Programme)
• BDS6000: Level Courses (PhD Biodiversity Programme)

Selected Publications

• De Freitas, K., Maharaj, G., Fan, H., & Kallel, H. (2024). Contribution of international cooperation in the Management of the First Documented Case of Lonomia caterpillar Envenoming (Lonomism) in Guyana. Toxicon, 107852.
• Sánchez Herrera, M., Forero, D., Calor, A. R., Romero, G. Q., Riyaz, M., Callisto, M., ... & Maharaj, G. (2024). Systematic challenges and opportunities in insect monitoring: a Global South perspective. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 379(1904), 20230102.
• Harris, A. E., Maharaj, G., Hallett, M., Thomas, R., Roopsind, A., O'Shea, B. J., & Bicknell, J. E. (2024). Variable shifts in bird and bat assemblages as a result of reduced‐impact logging revealed after 10 years. Journal of Applied Ecology, 61(1), 145-159.
• Davis, M., Carter, M., Singh, D., Roopsind, A., Maharaj, G. and Bicknell, J.E., (2023). Use of logging roads by terrestrial mammals in a responsibly managed neotropical rainforest in Guyana. Forest Ecology and Management, 548, p.121401. DOI:doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2023.121401.
• Bhagarathi, L. K., & Maharaj, G. (2023). Impact of climate change on insect biology, ecology, population dynamics, and pest management: A critical review. World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 19(03), 541–568. DOI:doi.org/10.30574/wjarr.2023.19.3.1843
• Bhagarathi, L. K., DaSilva, P. N., Subramanian, G., Maharaj, G., Kalika-Singh, S., Pestano. F, Phillips-Henry, Z. and Cossiah, Chalasa (2023). An integrative review of the biology and chemistry of lichens and their ecological, ethnopharmacological, pharmaceutical and therapeutic potential. GSC Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 23(03), 092–119. DOI: 10.30574/gscbps.2023.23.3.0223

Grants/fellowships/ Awards

• Guianas Sustainable Natural Resources Management Project, WWF-GUIANAS, NORAD Grant, 2020.
• Project Title: Achieving a Green State: Building human capacity for natural resource management in Guyana. Role: In-country coordinator, Part 2. Conservation International, NORAD Grant, 2018. Project Title: Restoring ecosystem functions to degraded mining site in Guyana Role: Co-Principal Investigator. Shared Resources Joint Solutions (SRJS) programme in the Guianas Grant. 2018.
• Project Title: Gender inclusiveness in Science (Departments of Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science and Mathematics/Physics/ Statistics) at the University of Guyana. Role: Co-Principal Investigator and co-coordinator.
• Guianas Sustainable Natural Resources Management Project, WWF-GUIANAS, NORAD Grant, 2017.
• Project Title: Achieving a Green State: Building human capacity for natural resource management in Guyana. Role: In-country coordinator. Idea Wild research grant, 2015
• Project Title: Colour-mediated foraging by pollinators: A comparative study of two passionflower butterflies at Lantana camara. Role: Principal Investigator. University of Missouri St. Louis Biology Graduate Student Association Research Grant, 2015
• Project Title: Colour-mediated foraging by pollinators: A comparative study of two passionflower butterflies at Lantana camara. Role: Principal Investigator. Rufford Foundation Small Grant for Research, 2014
• Project Title: Colour-mediated foraging by pollinators: A comparative study of two passionflower
  butterflies at Lantana camara. Role: Principal Investigator.