Published October 12, 2016
MONROE, La. — University of Louisiana Monroe junior biology major, Melissa Bloch,
explored new heights by travelling to the Himalayas in India along with her advisor,
Dr. Joydeep Bhattacharjee, as part of a summer research internship.
Bloch was awarded the internship by the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the
Environment (ATREE), a premier research institute focused on biodiversity conservation
and sustainable development throughout India. Bhattacharjee has established research
collaborations with ATREE and jointly proposed multiple collaborative projects to
be carried out soon involving ULM students.
During her month-long travel through the foothills of the Himalayas, Melissa worked
on “ground-truthing,” a necessary step when creating accurate land-use and land-change
maps. In the state of West Bengal, Melissa collected geographic coordinates of static
structures that were visible in satellite imagery using a high-end GPS.
These structures included palaces, British-era administrative buildings, and bridges,
some of which are over 300 years old. The objective was to align these structures
with their precise coordinates on various scaled maps and satellite images from the
past 20 years.
While collecting data, Melissa trekked through the Himalayas, spending each night
at a different remote village in the mountains. She also stayed in a homestay in Darjeeling,
in a bungalow in the middle of an esteemed Darjeeling tea estate, and at the Siliguri
family home of Bhattacharjee.
“Trekking through such rich repositories of biodiversity was the most enthralling
experience,” said Bloch. I visited villages that were hours from the nearest road.
Throughout the trek, I experienced monsoon rains, fresh leopard paw prints, Barking
Deer, leech bites and women carrying their weight in fodder across the daunting terrain.”
She hopes her research will provide an insight into the conservation of the Himalayas’
critical ecosystem which is home to many endangered species, including the Red Panda,
Asian Elephant, Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros, the Bengal Tiger and a suite of birds
that are endemic to the region. She plans to publish her findings in a scientific
journal.
Melissa was invited back for summer 2017 to continue the second phase of her research.
During the next trip she will use an Unmanned Aerial System to evaluate how the Himalayan
tree species are shifting ranges and distribution in response to climatic change.
Bhattacharjee reflected on this unique opportunity that Melissa had as an undergraduate.
In his words, “I am amazed at the pace at which Melissa has grown both professionally
and personally through this transformative research experience in India. She has proven
that there are no boundaries in the quest for knowledge, except the fact that one
must have the determination to do it,” Bhattacharjee said.
According to Bloch, “I have gained understanding, knowledge, and appreciation of a
country, culture and society very different from my own. I’m grateful to ULM for equipping
me with the tools I need to confidently put one step in front of the other in the
direction of my dreams.”
