Host City India: Fort Collins

Salvador Lyngdoh

Dr. Salvador Lyngdoh, Scientist E and Associate Professor, is a wildlife biologist specializing in carnivore ecology, movement ecology, habitat conservation, and human-wildlife interactions. With extensive research experience in the Indian Himalayas and other biodiverse regions, he has contributed significantly to understanding lesser-known species such as Himalayan wolves, dholes, snow leopards, pangolins and clouded leopards. He is a member of IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) specialists’ groups on cats, canids, pangolins and small carnivores.

During his Fulbright-Kalam Fellowship for Academic and Professional Excellence, Dr. Lyngdoh is studying the dynamics of wolf predation, prey behavior and habitat change in the context of climate change. Grey wolves play essential roles in most of their ranges by exercising top-down cascade effects on ecosystems. The proposed study aims to understand how climate change (past, present, and future) can affect predation by wolves (consumptive effects). It also aims to examine, if otherwise, climate-driven manifestations (environmental stressors) of non-consumptive nature can influence predation behavior (bottom-up cascades).

Sujatra Bhattacharyya

Mr Sujatra Bhattacharyya is a PhD candidate at the Centre for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. He has a keen interest in understanding the physics behind the large-scale dynamic and thermodynamic processes associated with tropical systems, such as the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and monsoons. Currently, he is conducting research on South Asian monsoons.

Sujatra’s research aims to identify and understand the mechanisms behind the dominant modes of the seasonal rainfall cycle over India. Simultaneously, he is examining the zonal and meridional shifts of precipitation bands during the boreal summer in the South Asian region using an energetics approach.

As a Fulbright-Kalam fellow, Sujatra is investigating the roles of MJO (Madden-Julian Oscillation) and ENSO (El Niño-Southern Oscillation) in Indian monsoons after the onset phase is established. He is also comparing the influences of various Intraseasonal Oscillations (ISO) on the development of the spatio-temporal moisture field over India.

Sujatra earned his Bachelor of Science (BSc Hons.) in Physics from the University of Delhi and MSc Tech) in Geophysics with a specialization in meteorology from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. He has been awarded the Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship (PMRF) since August 2022. He also teaches various Mathematics and Physics courses on national platforms such as NPTEL and Andhra University as part of the PMRF program. He has presented his work at several international and national conferences. He enjoys teaching, table tennis and travelling.

Syed Umer Latief

Dr. Syed Umer Latief is an assistant professor of geography in the Higher Education Department, Government of Jammu and Kashmir. He obtained his MSc in geography from the University of Kashmir, Srinagar, and PhD from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. His doctoral research focused on analyzing the impact of climate change on the Kolahoi glacier in the Kashmir Valley. During his PhD, he was awarded a travel grant by the International Council for Science to attend the ISMASS workshop in Portland, Oregon which was jointly organized by SCAR, Cambridge, England, and the IASC Secretariat, Potsdam, Germany. In 2015, he joined Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi as a post-doctoral research associate, where he worked on the glaciers of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

Dr. Umer’s research interests include glaciology, geomorphology, remote sensing, climate change and paleo-climate. He has published many research articles and book chapters on glaciers and climate change.

During his Fulbright-Kalam Climate Fellowship for Academic and Professional Excellence, Dr. Umer is investigating climatic variability and glacial dynamics in the upper Liddar Valley in the geological past, as well as in the future. He will use detailed field stratigraphy aided by OSL and CRN chronology of erosional and depositional features to ascertain the timing, magnitude and pattern of glaciations during the late Quaternary period.

Shikha Dixit

Dr. Shikha Dixit received her B.Sc. degree in agriculture from Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur in 2010. She obtained her postgraduation degree in plant biotechnology from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru. She received an ICAR fellowship during her graduation and a DBT fellowship for her postgraduate studies after securing ninth position in a national-level exam. She received her Ph.D. in molecular biology and biotechnology in the year 2020 from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. Her Ph.D. research was focused on understanding the defense molecular signaling pathway in response to fungal pathogens. During her postdoctoral research, she worked on DBT-funded and ICAR-funded projects, focusing on improving tolerance against necrotrophic pathogens by finding unique signaling factors in response to pathogens. She has published her research in prestigious journals and has also presented her findings at numerous national and international conferences. Apart from the academic fellowships, she is also the recipient of the IARI merit medal in 2020 and the ITS grant in 2023.

Adverse climatic conditions affect both plants and pathogens. Given their rapid adaptation ability, fluctuations in the weather pattern provide pathogens with more favorable conditions to thrive and increase the possibility of intense disease breakouts. As a Fulbright-Nehru Postdoctoral Research fellow at the Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, Dr. Dixit is identifying genes conferring favorable root architecture and pathogen tolerance under the dual-stress situation.