|
Professor (August 2006 - present)
Plant
and Restoration Ecology
Department
of Biology
University
of Louisiana, Monroe,
Louisiana.
Postdoctoral
Research Associate (September 2005 – July 2006)
(with
Dr. Loren M. Smith1 and Dr. David Haukos 2)
Department
of Range, Wildlife, and Fisheries Management,
Texas
Tech
University
Lubbock, Texas
1
As a
short-term post-doctoral researcher with the USDA, Lubbock, I was
involved in a project that evaluated the extent and importance of
playa wetlands in recharge of the Ogallala aquifer in the Southern
Great Plains of Texas. This project is ongoing and
aims to develop means to quantify the recharge of the aquifer
through playas. I was involved in developing
programming of advanced data loggers used for measuring
meteorological and other landscape level measurements in the playa
wetlands. Based on the expected differences in the recharge rates
between playa lakes with a grassland watershed and cropland
watersheds, I selected a total of 10
playa wetlands for the initial phase of this study. The plan was to
develop models that depict recharge of the Ogallala through these
wetlands.
2 As a part
of my second, brief post-doctoral research, I have evaluated
vegetation response to disturbance (influence of muskrat graze-out)
in an intermediate marsh in the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge,
Texas.
Graduate
Research Assistant (November 2001 – August 2005)
Department
of Range, Wildlife, and Fisheries Management
Texas
Tech
University
Major
Professor: Dr. Loren M. Smith
(806)
742-2842
I have
conducted research on ways of restoring native riparian vegetation
in the Middle
Rio Grande
Valley in New Mexico. My research focused on
the effect of controlled water drawdown on recruitment of
cottonwood. In addition, I evaluated intraspecific (native cottonwood seedlings) and
interspecific competition (between
seedlings of cottonwood and exotic saltcedar) under natural field
conditions.
While a
graduate student, I conducted research on the activity patterns
of the lizards Anolis stratulus and Ameiva exsul
in the Guana Island, British Virgin
Islands, U.K.
Research
Associate (May 1999 – October 2001)
Centre
for Studies in Rural Economy Appropriate Technology and Environment
(CREATE),
St.
Joseph’s
College, Darjeeling, INDIA.
Collaborative
Research Centre of International Forestry Resources and Institutions
(IFRI), Indiana
University, Bloomington,
USA
Director:
Dr. Milindo Chakrabarti
May 1999 – October 2001
As a research associate, I conducted
field surveys (Using the International Forestry Resources and
Institutions protocol) at 12 sites in North Bengal, India, to study
causes underlying extensive deforestation in the northeast
Himalayas. This research involved
socio-economic profiling of the forest fringe dwellers and its
impact on forest use. As a part of a research team, I was also
involved as a botanist creating benchmark data for floristic
diversity assessment of the remote regions of the North East
Himalayas.
October 2000 – January
2001
Carried out status surveys of the
Manipur Bush Quail (Perdicula
manipurensis), in the Buxa Tiger Reserve, India. The species is on
the endangered birds list and was last reported in the area as early
as 1930. The project involved surveying of potential habitat in the
area and communication with tribesmen regarding sightings of the
bird. This survey was conducted under the “Important Bird Areas”
(IBA project), a global Bird Conservation program of the Royal
Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), UK and Birdlife International,
UK.
June – July 1999
Carried out field surveys in Bhagawati Palanchok
area in central Nepal on the role of
local institutions in the harvest and management of forest
resources, as part of IFRI training. Represented CREATE,
Darjeeling, India in a research team including
members from University of
Washington,
Yale
University and Katmandu
University.
Masters’
Thesis (1998 – 1999)
Department
of Botany
Cytology-Genetics
Laboratory
North
Bengal
University
Darjeeling,
India.
Major
Advisor: Dr. Kalyan B. Datta D.Sc. (Retired)
Carried out
laboratory analysis on “The effects of various organic additives on
the growth and regeneration of Protocorm
like bodies (PLBs) in Vanda cristata (Orchidaceae)”, an endangered orchid species of
the northeast Himalayas, using
tissue culture techniques. I standardized the nutrient medium that
shortened the germination time (less than a fortnight), which in
nature can take as long as a year.
|
