In this post, we learn what Avit Kumar Bhowmik, a postgraduate from Landau, is working on after receiving his Ph.D. in Landau.
Avit, who has obtained his Ph.D. in December 2015 within the working group of Quantitative Landscape Ecology, Institute for Environmental Sciences (UWI), has started as a postdoctoral researcher in Stockholm Resilience Centre (SRC), Stockholm University, Sweden since January 2016. He is affiliated with the Planetary Boundaries (PB) research group led by Professor Johan Rockström. SRC is the world’s leading institution in resilience and sustainability research, with the PB group pioneering the “Planetary Boundaries” and “Safe and Just Operating Space” concepts.
Avit with Junior Professor Ralf B. Schäfer after his Ph.D. defense
In his Ph.D. research, Avit has developed novel Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Spatial Statistical tools as well as integrated them with ecological models to assess human and ecological impacts of freshwater degradation at large scales. He quantified large scale spatial relationships between aquatic insects and bioclimatic indices, and mapped human health risks from exposure to trace metal contamination. Avit’s Ph.D. dissertation is available from the University OPUS website.
Avit has joined SRC as an Earth-Doc, i.e. one of the Postdocs of Earth League collaborative research network. Within the framework of “Earth-Lander” project, his research, in collaboration with other Earth-Docs, will focus on deepening our understanding of current (in the epoch of Anthropocene) environmental changes. This involves investigating spatial disparities in the magnitude and pattern of environmental dynamics, underpinning their biophysical and socio-economic drivers and downscaling planetary boundaries to a level that is relevant for policy and institutions. Subsequently, the research will contribute to the development of a new generation of modelling, which will integrate human dimensions with the biophysical dimensions to outline pathways for sustainable transformation.
UWI in Landau is soon going to start a research collaboration with SRC through Avit and thus to integrate its research with PB. The tentative research agenda for this collaboration addresses the following questions:
- how can we set regional / local boundaries (particularly for chemical contamination) and upscale them to the planetary boundaries?
- how can we link freshwater ecosystem services to the chemical contaminants effects?
A representative group from UWI Landau will visit SRC to initiate this collaboration. The outcome of this research will inform ecosystem management and policy makers on across scale transformation necessary for environmental sustainability.
The BlogTeam and Landau’s UWI wish you, Avit, every success and the best of luck with your future work!