Thomas Vattakaven

Experience

• 

  National Institute of Oceanography

  Jan 2004 - Sept 2004

  Research Assistant

  Isolation, growth and purification of marine bacteria for preparation of cell extracts for bioactivity tests. Maintained a pre-sourced collection of marine bacteria. Extraction and preparation of bacterial crude samples for bioactivity tests as a part of an extended network of premier scientific institutes across the country. Lyophilization. Culture preservation. Co-ordination and collation of results.

• 

  Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML)

  Mar 2006 - Jul 2006

  Researcher

  Development of probes to detect viable but non-culturable bacteria in seawater using fluorescent in-situ hybridization.

• 

  Life Technologies

  Nov 2010 - May 2012

  Technical Application Scientist

  Troubleshooting specialist for molecular probes and cellular analysis with fluorescence based product. Analysis and interpretation of assay and application related issues to resolve problems in a timely manner.

• 

  French Institute of Pondicherry

  Sept 2012 - Jun 2013

  Researcher

  Worked on the Western Ghats Portal to engage with research projects funded by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) in ensuring that data generated is aggregated and output in an open and freely accessible manner on the online portal. Data curation, aggregation and validation. Public outreach and communication. Engaged with general public in recruitment through offline and online mediums towards participation in citizen science activities on the portal.

• 

  Strand Life Sciences

  Jul 2013 - now

  Manages the India Biodiversity Portal, on which Strand Life Sciences is the technology partner. The portal seeks to provide a collaborative platform to unify expertise and aggregate biodiversity information in a manner that can be openly and easily accessed by all. It aims to build effective collaborative tools for experts to interact and the means to aggregate large scale data from different databases, serve the data out effectively based on user interest and requirements and to further build upon it through citizen science and crowd sourcing campaigns. My role involves proposal writing and fund raising; conceptualizing, designing and overseeing development of the portal features and functionality, coordinating participation from users and data contributors; scoping and curation of data and data upload; data analysis and academic publishing; and liaising with stakeholders and partner organizations. Show less Coordinates the India biodiversity Portal, on which Strand Life Sciences is the technology partner. The portal seeks to provide a collaborative platform to unify expertise and aggregate biodiversity information in a manner that can be openly and easily accessed by all. It aims to build effective collaborative tools for experts to interact and the means to aggregate large scale data from different databases, serve the data out effectively based on user interest and requirements and to further build upon it through citizen science and crowd sourcing campaigns. My role involves coordinating participation from users and data contributors; scoping and curation of data and data upload; data analysis and academic publishing; overseeing design of features and functionality; coordinating with software developers and overseeing portal development; proposal and grant writing; and conducting outreach and liaising with stakeholders and partner organizations. Show less Coordinates the India biodiversity Portal, on which Strand Life Sciences is the technology partner. The portal seeks to provide a collaborative platform to unify expertise and aggregate biodiversity information in a manner that can be openly and easily accessed by all. It aims to build effective collaborative tools for experts to interact and compile validated species lists and informative species pages. It seeks to offer the means to aggregate large scale data from different databases, serve the data out effectively based on user interest and requirements and to further build upon it through citizen science and crowd sourcing campaigns. Show less

  • Senior Application Scientist IV

    Apr 2022 - now

  • Senior Application Scientist III

    May 2018 - Mar 2022

  • Senior Application Scientist II

    Dec 2016 - May 2018

  • Senior Scientist - I

    Jul 2013 - Nov 2016