Department of Zoology & School of Entomology

About the department

The Department of Zoology of St. John’s College, Agra holds a distinguished place in the academic history of India. Undergraduate teaching in Zoology began as early as 1906. Postgraduate teaching started in 1924, with a focus on advanced subjects such as Herpetology and Ichthyology (studies on Reptiles and fish). This set the foundation for a strong research culture within the department.

Milestones:

A major milestone in the department’s history was reached in 1950 with the establishment of the School of Entomology (view details)—the first and the one of its kind in India—founded by Prof. M.S. Mani. We have crossed a century of postgraduate teaching in Zoology which is a remarkable academic milestone.

Uniqueness:

The department played a pivotal role in introducing Entomology as a special subject in Zoology under Agra University. The School of Entomology of St. John’s College is certified and registered (356-0219-01) as the Source of Environmental Information in the INFOTERRA international Directory of Sources of United Nations Environment Program- UNEP in 1984 (view details).

Exploration and studies of High-Altitude insect fauna became a thrust area in the late nineteen fifties and sixties with the school by undertaking a series of expeditions to the North West Himalayas. The resultant studies earned an international name for the School of Entomology.

Infrastructure:

Over the years, several eminent Zoologists served in the department created the Department’s Zoological Museum, which remains a significant educational and research asset. Its museum has a good and rare collection of invertebrates, chordates and specially insects. The Department has state-of-the-art Laboratories for UG and PG teaching and Research Laboratories for Ph. D. and for Research Projects. The Department Library has a good collection of books and journals. We have Smart class rooms for Undergraduate and post graduate teaching

Student Forum:

We encourage student engagement and collaboration in Research right from Undergraduate studies as part of active learning. The student forum of the department namely Zoology and Entomology Society (ZENSO), formerly known as ‘Natural History Society’ and then ‘Zoology Association, is involved in various activities every year. National, International, and local level seminars, conferences and workshops were organized in the department and in collaboration with other Institutes.

Vision:

To train competent and employable Zoologists by imparting quality education, research temperament and zeal for nature and society

Mission:

To maintain conducive academic environment with state-of-the-art Laboratories and Research facilities
To instil genuine interest for animal life and an urge to be advocates for nature and biodiversity conservation
To develop overall personality of students by instilling in them social responsibility and leadership qualities

Programmes and Courses offered by the department

B.Sc. Zoology
M.Sc. Zoology specialization in Entomology
Ph. D. Zoology and Entomology

Achievements of the department (since its existence)

(a) Research Projects:

Over the years many Research Projects funded by the following organisations of the Government of India have been carried out successfully in the Department, namely UP-CSIR, UP-CST, DBT, CSIR, UGC, DST, ICAR, ICMR. Also, Research projects funded by foreign countries like PL 480- United States Agricultural Services through Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Government of India have been completed. Some of the projects in recent years are as under.

S. No.	Title of Research Project	Year	Funding Agency
1	Taxonomy and Biology of Agromyzidae from U.P.	1961-64	UPCSIR
2	Studies on the Biology and Taxonomy of the Agromyzidae (Diptera) the leaf-mining files from Indian faunal Limits	1966-71	PL 480 Fund
3	High Altitude Torrential stream insects of the Himalaya	1969-72	CSIR
4	Studies on the taxonomy of Chalcidoidea	1971-76	PL-480 Fund from India
5	Taxonomic survey of Chironomidae (Diptera) from India with special reference to U.P.	1973-76	UPCS&T
6	Investigations on the Biology of Agriculturally important Agromyzidae (Diptera) occurring in U.P.	1974-76	UPCS&T
7	Ecology of High-Altitude soil Arthropods.	1975-80	UGC
8	Survey of mountain river ecosystem insect	1975-78	DST communities
9	Taxonomic studies on the genus Melanagromyza Handel (Diptera)	1976-79	UGC
10	Studies on the taxonomy of Proctotrupoidea from India	1976-80	PL-480
11	Ecology of the Agromyzidae associated with leguminous crops in India (Diptera)	1977-82	DST
12	Studies on the Agromyzidae pest complex of Brassica campestris (Mustard)	1977-80	UPCS&T
13	Taxonomy and field ecology of the Chalcidoidea of the Teak-Sal Forest Ecosystem in India	1982	DST
14	Host specificity and host selection in Agromyzidae	1983-89	ICAR
15	Bioecology of the arthropods of High- Altitude Lakes of Kulu and Lahual spiti districts (HP)	1983-87	UGC
16	Investigations on Taxonomy, cytotaxonomy and biology of Chironomidae (Diptera in India	1983-86	DST
17	Taxonomic and Bioecological studies sychodidae (Diptera) from Indian faunal limits.	1984-87	DST
18	Taxonomy and Bioecology of Lirio Mik (Agromyzidae: Diptera)	1984-88	DST
19	Bioecology of Hymenoptera parasites of Agromyzides (Ditera) est species in India	1985-90	PL-480 Funds
20	The altitudinal stratification of flower-visiting insects and their role in the conservation of high-altitude vegetation germplasm in the Kulu and Lahaul-Spiti regions of Northwest Himalaya.	1990-93	UGC
21	Taxonomy and Bioecology of phlebotomidae	1990-93	DST
22	Bioecology of Chironomidae (Diptera)	1990-93	DST
23	Taxonomy of Bioecology of Ceratopogonidae	1994-98	DST
24	Biodiversity of high altitude with special reference to NWH.	1990-98	UBACHE
25	Study on morphology and biodiversity of mosquitoes in Agra	1998-2000	UGC Minor project
26	Blood worms of blood worms of Ladakh, India	2002-05	DST
27	A study on the morphologic variations exhibited by the major vector mosquitoes available in Agra.	2008-11	UGC
28	Systematics and reproductive behaviour of biting midges (Diptera Ceratopogonidae.	2009-12	UGC
29	specificity of biting midges (Diptera Ceratopogonidae: Culicoides) of India	2012	DST
30	Host specificity of vector of blue tongue disease (Ceratopogonidae: Culicoides) of India	2013-16	DST
31	Determination of Kala Azar vector in new locus of Himalayas (India) (Diptera: Phlebotomidae).	2013-16	DBT
32	The kinetics of interaction of wild type and mutant aml protein with DNA	2012-15	ICMR

(b) Research Publications

The Department of Zoology has a strong research output, more than 400 research papers published in reputed national and international journals. The faculty members have authored over 45 books and chapters in various fields of Zoology. The research work carried out at the department of Zoology has produced more than 100 Ph.D. students till date.

Memoirs of The School of Entomology, St. John’s College, Agra: So far, The School of Entomology has published 12 memoirs on various research works of the department for its credit.

(c) Awards and Medals:

Student	Academic Year	Award/ Medal
Ms. Isha Gola (Final Year M.Sc.)	2024-25	L.P. Mathur Gold Medal for securing the highest marks in M.Sc. Zoology at the University level of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University, Agra
Ms. Krati Shakya (Final Year M.Sc.)	2023-24	L.P. Mathur Gold medal for securing the highest marks in M.Sc. Zoology at the University level of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University, Agra
Ms. Priya Sagar (Final Year B.Sc.)	2021-22	Two Gold medals in final year B.Sc. Zoology of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University, Agra

(d) Recent Qualifications in National Entrances & Higher Education in Institutes of National Repute:

Ms. Mohini Yadav	CSIR- NET 2026 All India Rank – 130
Ms. Neha Singh	NET -2025 All India Rank – 46; & NET-DBT, Won JRF. Pursuing Ph.D. at JNU, New Delhi
Ms. Nisha Gautam	NET-2025
Ms. Priyanka Sharma	CSIR-JRF 2024. Pursuing Ph.D. at St. John’s College, Agra
Mr. Sunny Gupta	NET-2023
Ms. Deepti Chauhan	ICMR-JRF-2023. Pursuing Ph.D. at AIIMS, New Delhi
Mr. Mohd Ahamad	NET-2022, NET- 2023 won JRF. Pursuing Ph.D. at Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi

Many others are presently pursuing or have recently completed their research from other reputed Institutions.

Our Research Scholars Ms. Garima Saxaria, Ms. Priyanka Sharma and Ms. Neetu Sharma qualified NET and are receiving Junior Research Fellowship of CSIR.
In the recent past our students did their Internship Programmes from reputed laboratories of BHU and Forensic Science Laboratory, Agra.
Presently Ms. Koyna Nigam, an undergraduate student of 2024-25 batch did her Internship programme from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate change, New Delhi in January and February 2026.

(e) Our Distinguished Alumni:

The Department of Zoology and School of Entomology has produced alumni of great Calibre over a long period of time. Many distinguished alumni went on to become Scientists and Administrators of The Zoological Survey of India, DST, ICMR, ICAR, Sericulture Board, Universities, Research institutions, Colleges and in other capacities.

Two of the alumni from Zoology Department Dr. Ipe M. Ipe and Dr. Alexander Lal went on to become Principals of St. John’s College, Agra.

S. No.	Name	Designation / Institution
1	Prof. M. S. Mani	Director, Zoological Survey of India
2	Dr. P. T. Cherian	Addl. Director, Zoological Survey of India, Chennai
3	Dr. Usha Sharma	Dept. Director, CSIR
4	Dr. David Livingstone	Madras Christian College, Chennai
5	Dr. T. A. George	Principal, Catholic College, Pathanamthitta
6	Dr. Barkha Khan	Govt. Degree College, Pilibhit
7	Dr. R. A. Khan	Scientist, Central Silk Board
8	Dr. D. S. Chauhan	Scientist F, JALMA ICMR, Agra
9	Dr. J. P. Singh	Professor, Govt. College, U.P.
10	Dr. Ashwini Kumar	AIDU, Allahabad
11	Dr. Nishi Sewak	E.C.C., Allahabad
12	Dr. Amitabh Shad	E.C.C., Allahabad
13	Dr. Deepti Mandal	E.C.C., Allahabad
14	Dr. Akash Varshney	D.S. College, Aligarh
15	Dr. Deepti Singh	K.R. College, Mathura
16	Dr. Naveen S. Singh	Lucknow Christian College
17	Dr. Anand Kumar	Agra College, Agra

(f) Recent Visits/Events:

Recently the Alumnus of the Department of Zoology and School of Entomology and the former Principals of St. John’s College Dr. Ipe M. Ipe and Dr. Alexander Lal and the former Heads of the department Dr. Ashok Kulshrestha and Dr. Girish Maheshwari visited the college in December 2025 in connection with the 175th year Celebration of St. John’s College, Agra.
Our Alumni Retd. Prof. I.P. Singh and Dr. D.S. Chauhan Scientist F working in JALMA who did their Ph. D. Degree of this Department visited the department and gave Guest lectures in the academic session 2025-26.
In the recent past, Dr. Santok Singh Memorial Seminar on “Receptors of temperature and touch” the Nobel prize winning topic of the year was held on 17 December 2021 and on that the services of Dr. Santokh Singh to the Department remembered.
Dr. David Livingstone Memorial Lecture on “Advancements on Immunology” was organised on 17 and 18 March 2025 in connection with National immunisation Day and its proceedings published (view details), on that the services Dr. D. Livingstone in the department specially his contributions in 1972 for conducting course on Basic immunology remembered.
On 2026 April a student magazine was released by the Zoology Entomology Society (ZENSO) of the Department, on that the services of Dr. Agnes Ipe, an alumnus, teacher of the Department and the Former Vice- Principal of St. John’s College remembered.

Head of the department

Prof. J. Andrew
M.Sc., M.Phil., Ph.D.

Head, Department of Zoology & School of Entomology
Email Id: jandrewsjcz@gmail.com

Faculty Members (Present)

Name	Prof. J. Andrew
Designation	Professor and Head
Education	M. Sc. (V.H.N.S.N. College, Virudhunagar, M.K. University, Madurai in 1988) M. Phil. (V.H.N.S.N. College, Virudhunagar, M. K. University, Madurai in 1990) Ph. D. (PG Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Madras in 1997)
Research Experience	1991-1997 Project Assistant and Project fellow of UGC (University of Madras)
Teaching Experience	1997 – till date (St. John’s College, Agra)
Email id	jandrewsjcz@gmail.com

Name	Prof. Dinesh Lal
Designation	Professor
Education	M.Sc. (St. John’s College, Agra in 1990) Ph.D. (St. John’s College, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University, Agra in 1993)
Research Experience	1990 – 1993 Project Assistant in UGC Research Project (School of Entomology, St. John’s College, Agra)
Teaching Experience	1995 – 2005 Reader (St. Andrew’s College, Gorakhpur) 2005 – till date (St John’s College, Agra)
Email id	drdineshlal.sjc@gmail.com

Name	Dr. Samar Vir Singh Rathore
Designation	Assistant Professor (Selection Grade)
Education	M.Sc. (St. John’s College, Agra in 2002) Ph.D. (St. John’s College, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University, Agra in 2008)
Research Experience	2002 – 2007 CSIR-JRF & SRF (School of Entomology, St. John’s College, Agra)
Teaching Experience	2009 – 2014 Assistant Professor (Ramjas College, University of Delhi) 2014 – till date (St. John’s College, Agra)
Email id	samar.v.s@sjcagra.ac.in; samar.v.s@gmail.com

Name	Dr. Deepshikha Viola Das
Designation	Assistant Professor (Senior Grade)
Education	M.Sc. (St. John’s College, Agra in 2003) Ph.D. (St. John’s College, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University, Agra in 2015)
Research Experience	2009 – 2015 Research Scholar (School of Entomology, St. John’s College, Agra)
Teaching Experience	2019 – till date (St. John’s College, Agra)
Email id	deepshikhaviola@sjcagra.ac.in

Name	Dr. Florin Masih
Designation	Assistant Professor
Education	M.Sc. (St. John’s College, Agra in 2002) Ph.D. (St. John’s College, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University, Agra in 2007) B.Ed. (Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University, Agra in 2019)
Research Experience	2003 – 2007 Research Scholar (School of Entomology, St. John’s College, Agra)
Teaching Experience	2008 – 2012 Guest Lecturer (Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University, Agra) 2012 – 2015 Lecturer (Smt. Bhudevi PG College, Agra) 2019 – 2022 Guest Faculty (St. John’s College, Agra) 2025 – till date (St. John’s College, Agra)
Email id	florinmasih@gmail.com

Name	Dr. Sreerenjini Kamal
Designation	Assistant Professor
Education	M.Sc. (St. Thomas College, Kozhencherry in 2008) Ph.D. (Catholicate College, Pathanamthitta in 2022)
Research Experience	2017 – 2020 JRF & SRF (CSIR) at Catholicate College, Pathanamthitta
Teaching Experience	2010 – 2013 Guest Lecturer (St. Thomas College, Ranni) 2013 – 2014 Guest Lecturer (St. Thomas College, Kozhencherry) 2014 – 2015 Guest Lecturer (Mar Thoma College, Thiruvalla) 2021 – 2022 Guest Lecturer (St. Thomas College, Kozhencherry) 2022 – 2023 Assistant Professor (Contractual) (Catholicate College, Pathanamthitta) 2023 – 2024 Assistant Professor (Contractual) (St. Thomas College, Ranni) 2024 – 2025 Assistant Professor (Contractual) (Catholicate College, Pathanamthitta) 2025 – present (St. John’s College Agra)
Email id	sreerenjinikamal16@gmail.com

Name	Dr. Joy Nivedita Samuel
Designation	Assistant Professor
Education	M.Sc. (St. Andrew’s College, Gorakhpur in 2015) Ph.D. (Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi in 2022)
Research Experience	2017 – 2022 Research Scholar (Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi)
Teaching Experience	2022 – 2025 Assistant professor (Sunbeam Women’s College, Varuna, Varanasi) 2025 – till date (St. John’s College, Agra)
Email id	joy.samuel17@gmail.com