‘Why study?’: Lakshadweep’s first woman PhD holder in marine sciences was once asked

“After post-graduation, my archetypal occupation was arsenic a teacher of fisheries astatine a section schoolhouse during 2014-2015. Due to constricted vulnerability and cognition of disposable opportunities, PhD was ne'er connected my mind,” Shabeena told The Indian Express implicit the telephone from her location successful Kavaratti.

Her puerility years were challenging, she recalled. Losing her begetter – the family’s lone breadwinner – portion studying successful people 4 and the family’s consequent shrinking resources meant that she could not situation imagination of continuing higher studies astatine Kochi successful Kerala – astir 500 km distant connected the mainland. But thing deterred Shabeena’s absorption successful studies which she continued astatine the land till her post-graduation. During the archetypal twelvemonth of post-graduation successful 2012, she got joined to a sailor. Today, she is simply a parent to a six-year-old girl.

(L – R) – Idrees Babu K K, Shabeena M and S Sureshkumar astatine Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS) (Photo: Special arrangement)

It was nether the mentorship of Idrees Babu K K, a marine idiosyncratic astatine the Department of Science and Technology (DST) successful Lakshadweep, that Shabeena learned astir the telephone for PhD and received his guidance for the interrogation preparation. Before that, she utilized to beryllium a DST squad subordinate moving successful Lakshadweep who was tasked with documenting the assorted section faunal resources.

“There was cipher to pass oregon usher maine astir the imaginable opportunities successful this tract during assemblage days. I was under-confident, scared, and ne'er thought that I possessed endowment oregon could compete. If it were not for my 2 encouraging and supportive guides, Idrees Babu and Sureshkumar, I would ne'er person enrolled for PhD,” she said.

S Sureshkumar was Babu’s PhD usher astatine Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS) – the country’s archetypal fisheries university. He aboriginal guided Shabeena erstwhile she registered for PhD successful 2016. Her existent groundwork started successful 2017.

Shabeena’s probe required her to question to adjacent islands of Lakshadweep either by a vas oregon via vessel for collecting samples of seaweeds and seagrass. Her halfway enactment was to papers these taxon presently thriving successful 12 islands of Lakshadweep, 2 of which are inhabited. Recalling her PhD travel done the travels to the mainland that would necessitate 1 or, sometimes 2 days, she said, “During my archetypal years of PhD, I, on with my babe daughter, would question by vessel to Kochi and enactment implicit for 1 to 2 months. In betwixt these trips, I would instrumentality up thesis penning some successful Kochi and backmost home. My household was precise supportive. In the aboriginal years erstwhile my girl started her school, my parent helped with caregiving.”

Her extended enactment implicit the past respective years concluded that lone 96 of the earlier 182 documented algal taxon successful Lakshadweep person survived. Of those, 7 were documented successful Lakshadweep waters for the archetypal time. A herbarium has been recently acceptable up present and her enactment is being seen arsenic baseline probe connected these algae species.

“Shabeena’s probe enactment suggests that lone those taxon person survived which could beryllium resilient to the ongoing anthropogenic and different changes that person affected the region,” said Sureshkumar, a prof of marine biology astatine KUFOS.

Dredging and a ample fig of turtles feeding connected the algae were different imaginable reasons, Shabeena pointed out, for the declining grade of seaweed and seagrass successful Lakshadweep. “I callback seeing immense swathes of seagrass galore years agone but that is present connected the verge of depletion,” she shared.

Shabeena’s grit and dedication to survey the section ecology of Lakshadweep is an perfect illustration for the young islanders to travel suit, Sureshkumar said.

“There person been galore studies taken up to survey Lakshadweep’s fauna implicit respective decades. However, these were done chiefly by researchers from the mainland who would marque immoderate visits to Lakshadweep and travel up with findings. Now, with a autochthonal researcher similar Shabeena trained and qualified, this volition beryllium a large boost to each efforts towards community-level capableness gathering locally for studying the exclusive marine beingness of Lakshadweep,” said the KUFOS elder professor.

Shabeena, who arrived backmost location aft her PhD defence successful Kochi, received a hero’s welcome. “Sailing back, galore of my co-passengers congratulated me. Since I arrived location connected Sunday, my classmates and relatives person been queueing up astatine location to greet me. They are each feeling arrogant of my accomplishment and I americium enjoying this moment. Nothing tin halt women from making progress,” she said.

Shabeena has ambitious plans, including furthering her contiguous probe by studying the DNA of the aforesaid algae and tracing the changes they person undergone. She added that she volition see teaching positions astatine her alma mater erstwhile a suitable vacancy comes by.