Shloka V. Janapaty sj9547 [at] princeton [dot] edu

Hello! I’m a PhD student in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton coadvised by Lars Hedin and Simon Levin. Prior to graduate school, I received my bachelors degree in Applied Math from Columbia University. My research is supported by an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and the Robert May Fellowship at Princeton.

The kind of ecological theory I enjoy most is:

  • low-dimensional: what is the simplest description of this problem that explains the most variance?
  • cross-disciplinary: where different fields interface and new applications arise
  • meaningful: provides fundamental insight into animal welfare, vulnerable biogeochemical stocks, and other neglected problems

I am particularly interested in using tools from mathematics and computer science to examine:

  1. resource acquisition strategies in plant community assembly, especially in nutrient poor soils
  2. resource allocation strategies in wild animals, especially phenotypic plasticity in life-history strategies on short evolutionary time scales.
Home

Recent Work

Janapaty, S. V. (2023). A Chip-Firing Game for Biocrust Reverse Succession. arXiv :2305.05193.

Basaria, S., Ginieczki, T. S., Janapaty, S. V., Nigam, R., & Smith, D. H. (2023). Maximizing Learning Objectives in Undergraduate Research Journals. Journal of College Science Teaching,  52(5), 3-5.

Janapaty, S. (2023). Methods for degrading low density polyethylene (LDPE) and remediating leachate. U.S. Patent No. 11,583,904. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Miscellaneous Writing

Here are a few things I've written. I primarily write for myself but produce my best work in anticipation of viewership!

My Anki Guide

Vogel on Reliabilism

Fake Cows and Real Ones

Digital Shelves

To Read

Fiction
  • The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin
  • Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
  • A Short Stay in Hell by Steven Peck
  • Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Science, History, and Philosophy
  • The Biology of Moral Systems by Richard D. Alexander
  • A Foray Into the Worlds of Animals and Humans: With a Theory of Meaning by Jakob Johann von Uexkull
  • The Fall of Heaven by Andrew Scott Cooper
  • Judgement in Tokyo by Gary J. Bass
  • The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith
  • Quining Qualia by Dan Dennett
  • The Energetics of Computing in Life and Machines by David Wolpert
  • From Darwin to Derrida by David Haig
  • Suffering-Focused Ethics: Defense and Implications by Magnus Vinding
  • Minimalist Axiologies: Alternatives to ‘Good Minus Bad’ Views of Value by Teo Ajantaival
  • Time: A Very Short Introduction by Jenann Ismael
  • An Introduction to Decision Theory by Martin Peterson
  • A First Course in Probability by Sheldon Ross

Past

2025
2024
2023