Environmental Field Camp held in India May 23-June 13, 2008

Dr. P.V. Sundareshwar led an ecology/environmental science field camp, organized as a collaboration between the Black Hills Natural Science Field Station at SDSM&T and the Institute for Ocean Management at Anna University in Chennai, India. The camp, attended by 7 students from Harvard University, Vassar College and Eckerd College, was designed to provide students and participants with an intense three-week training in coastal ecological issues including mangrove ecology, coastal biogeochemistry, groundwater studies and water quality, integrated with hard rock geology and a comparative study of tsunami-impacted and unimpacted coastal ecosystems.

The highlight of the camp was a 10-day research cruise on the Indian Ocean aboard the newly-commissioned state-of-the-art Ocean Research Vessel ‘Sagar Nidhi’*. The students participated in research activities that included measuring water quality parameters using CTD measurements at select stations, continuous measurement using Dataflow®, collecting and analyzing water and sediment samples from various depths up to 3200 m. The students also took a field trip to the pristine mangrove forests and coral beds of the Andaman Islands, and watched the eruption of a live volcano on the Barren Island in the Bay of Bengal.

The camp was headquartered in Chennai with visit to various locations including the beautiful Andaman Islands.  We also visited historical monuments including a 2000+ year old granite temple, an 800 year old granite fort, and the beautiful beaches of the Andaman Islands.

To see pictures from this field camp, please visit the website at: (to come)

Dr. Sundareshwar is also developing  a research project on nutrient dynamics and ecology of mangrove ecosystems in the Andaman Islands in collaboration with Dr. R. Ramesh from the Institute for Ocean Management at Anna University.

 * We would like to thank the National Institute of Ocean Technology, Government of India for graciously granting access to the Sagar Nidhi and its facilities for this camp and research.