Rate My Professor Shawan Chowdhury

Dr Shawan Chowdhury is a Lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences at Monash University. He is a global change biologist with a special focus on insects. Much of his current research involves ecological modelling and big data analysis, complemented by strong fieldwork experience in the tropics. Before joining Monash University, Dr Chowdhury completed a short postdoctoral position at the University of Adelaide with Professor Phill Cassey. Earlier, he held a two-year postdoctoral position at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) with Professor Aletta Bonn, where he analysed biodiversity trends in Germany. In May 2022, he completed his PhD on insect migration and conservation at the University of Queensland under the supervision of Professor Richard Fuller and Emeritus Professor Meron Zalucki. He also holds an MSc and a BSc in Zoology from the University of Dhaka.

Dr Chowdhury heads the Global Change Ecology Lab at Monash University. The lab focuses on understanding and conserving biodiversity in a rapidly changing world, with particular emphasis on insects. Research areas include minimising the global biodiversity data shortfall, causes and consequences of insect migration, language barriers in biodiversity conservation, impacts of global change on insects, and insect conservation in the Anthropocene. He leads projects on online data, citizen science, and equity and diversity in academia. Notable publications include “Three-quarters of insect species are insufficiently represented by protected areas” (2023), “Protected areas and the future of insect conservation” (2023), and “Migration in butterflies: a global overview” (2021). He has contributed to studies on increasing biodiversity knowledge through social media and the growth of non-English-language literature on biodiversity conservation. Dr Chowdhury is accepting PhD students.