• 2001. Ph.D. Biology, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, 2001.
• 1993. M.S. Zoology & Wildlife Science, Auburn University, Auburn, AL.
• 1988. M.Sc. (Tech) Computer Science, Birla Institute of Tech. & Science, Pilani, India

• 2001-2002.     Post-doctoral Research Associate, Centre for Population Biology, Imperial College, Silwood Park, UK.
• 2002-Present.  Research Scientist, Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.

• Alexander Gourevitch Award for meritorious achievement by a PhD student, Syracuse University.
• Joseph L. Fisher Dissertation Award 1999-2000, Resources for the Future, Washington, DC.
• Syracuse University Graduate Fellowship, Syracuse University (Declined)
• Academic Excellence Award, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama.

 Professional service

• Manuscript reviews for Biological Conservation, Current Science, Conservation & Society, Ecology, Ecological Applications, Ecology Letters, Plant Ecology, Current Science, Conservation & Society, Forages & Grazinglands (e-journal), Global Ecology & Biogeography, Journal of Ecology, Journal of Vegetation Science, Plant Ecology.
• Grant proposal reviews for IFS, Sweden.

• Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. August 2005.
  
• Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, 2004.
  
• Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, 2003.
• International Conference on Tropical Ecosystems: Structure, Diversity and Human Welfare. Association for Tropical Biology, Bangalore, India. 2001.
• NERC Centre for Population Biology, Imperial College, Silwood Park, U. K. 2000.

• 2003. Ecological Society of America Meeting, Savanna, GA. Consumer-decomposer interactions in a semi-arid grazing ecosystem.
• 2003. African Savanna Complexity Workshop: Differing perceptions, common grounds.  Luiperdskloof Game Reserve, South Africa. Tree-grass coexistence in savannas.
• 2001. International Conference on Tropical Ecosystems, Association for Tropical Biology, Bangalore, India.  Vegetation classification and land-cover change in the Kalakad–Mundanthurai TigerReserve, south India, as inferred from satellite imagery: Implications for conservation of a bio-diversity hotspot.
• 2001.  International Conference on Tropical Ecosystems, Association for Tropical Biology, Bangalore, India. Dry season Nitrogen dynamics in three contrasting savanna grassland communities: temporal patterns and the effects of fires and grazing.
• 1999. Fifth Annual Thornfield Symposium in Biology, Syracuse, NY.  Disturbance regimes, species identities and the stability of communities.
• 1998. National Seminar on Wildlife Conservation, Research & Management, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun, India. Effects of disturbances on understorey plant communities in grassland-shrubland communities at the Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, south India.
• 1997.  Third Annual Thornfield Symposium in Biology, Syracuse, NY. Disturbance & community change in a tropical grassland system in southern India.
  

• Sankaran, M, Niall P. Hanan, Robert J. Scholes, Jayashree Ratnam, Brian S. Cade, Jonas Ardo, David J. Augustine, Feetham Banyikwa, Andries Bronn, Gabriela Bucini, Kelly K. Caylor, Michael B. Coughenour, Alioune Diouf, Wellington Ekaya, Christie J. Feral, Edmund C. February, Peter G. H. Frost, Jacques Gignoux, Pierre Hiernaux, Steven I. Higgins, Halszka Hrabar, Xavier Le Roux, Fulco Ludwig, Kristine L. Metzger, Herbert H. T. Prins, Susan Ringrose, William Sea, Jörg Tews, Jeff Worden, Nick Zambatis.  2005. Determinants of woody cover in African savannas. Nature 438: 846 - 849.
  

• Daniel E. Bunker, Fabrice De Clerck, Jason C. Bradford, Robert K. Colwell, Ivette Perfecto, Oliver Phillips, Mahesh Sankaran & Shahid Naeem 2005. Species Loss and Above-ground Carbon Storage in a Tropical Forest. Science 310: 1029-1031.

• Sankaran, M. & McNaughton, S. J. 2005.  Terrestrial plant-herbivore interactions: Integrating across multiple determinants and trophic levels. In Vegetation Ecology (ed.) van der Maarel, E.  Blackwell Science, Oxford. pp 265-285.

• Sankaran, M., Ratnam, J & Hanan, N. P. 2004.  Tree grass coexistence in savannas revisited: insights from an examination of assumptions and mechanisms invoked in existing models. Ecology Letters 7: 480-490. [This is an electronic version of the article published in Ecology Letters: complete citation information for the final version of the paper, as published in the print edition of Ecology Letters, is available on the Blackwell Synergy online delivery service, accessible via the journal's website at http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journals/ele or http://www.blackwell-synergy.com.]

• Sankaran, M. & Augustine, D. J. 2004. Large herbivores supress decomposer abundance in a semi-arid grazing ecosystem.  Ecology 85 (4): 1052-1061.

• Sankaran, M. & McNaughton, S. J. 1999. Determinants of biodiversity regulate compositional stability of communities. Nature 401: 691-693.