“I’m half a botanist and half a zoologist; I’m equally interested in plants and animals,” says Ritabrata Chowdhury (Zoology PhD 2023).
Ritabrata is studying the biomechanics and evolution of insect-plant interactions, by comparing the Heliconiine-Passiflora (passion vines) and the Macaranga-ant model systems in rainforests of Borneo, Malaysia and the Amazon.
The evolution of Macaranga trees, which have waxy, slippery stems, and the ants which rely upon them, adapting physiologically with hook-like feet to walk on the plants, illustrate Ritabrata’s work. Caian Sir Vincent Wigglesworth (Medicine 1919), a renowned British entomologist who made significant contributions to the field of insect physiology, is an inspiration.
Ritabrata adds: “It all comes to the main question: how it helps the maintenance of ecosystems which are threatened by climate change. Understanding how these mechanisms work so one day we will be able to use that to holistically understand and save ecosystems.”
Mitigating the impact of palm plantations is another example of the potential impact of Ritabrata’s work.
“Macaranga trees are able to help restore land made barren by palm plantations,” he adds. “These ants that live on them have special adaptations to walk on the slippery stems and have very strong symbiotic relationships with the trees.
“I’m trying to understand how these relationships work and once I understand it my ultimate goal would be to use them in oil palm plantations to restore them, for soil restoration and food security.
“It’s quite challenging. There’s not many people doing this in the world. I’m in one of the very few labs in the world who study insect-plant biomechanics. My primary supervisor, Professor Walter Federle, is a pioneer when it comes to this.”
Ritabrata’s interest can be traced to his childhood, watching ants in fields near his home in West Bengal, India, and through television documentaries. An undergraduate degree at Banaras Hindu University in Zoology followed, which included internships on ants and other insects, focusing his academic interest.
“I started working on ants – looking at how ant mandibles have adapted to their niche – and I got hooked,” he says.
Seeking guidance, he contacted Professor Walter Federle, who at the end of an introductory conversation invited Ritabrata to Cambridge, where he undertook a Masters which began in January 2022. His PhD followed, as RO Whyte Scholar at Gonville & Caius College, co-supervised by Dr Erika de Castro and Professor Chris Jiggins.
Working at greenhouses in Madingley and in the Department of Zoology, Downing Street, Cambridge is combined with lengthy field placements in Asia and in Panama and Puerto Rico.
The interdisciplinary nature of his work appeals to Ritabrata, who uses videography, electron microscopy, behavioural observations and other methods to look at ants, caterpillars plants and their adaptations.
“I do science, not just biology, physics, chemistry or bioengineering… it’s the questions that are more important to me,” he says. “I’m quite privileged that I have the opportunity to do this.”
