Alumnus Update: Amartya Mitra
Amartya Mitra is a 2019 scholar who pursued a MRes in Biodiversity, Evolution & Conservation at the University College London.
This week he shares with us his learnings about the optical workings of frogs and his experiences finishing university in the midst of a pandemic.
One very mundane night, I received an email from University College London, stating that I had completed my course and had been awarded a Master’s in Research in Biodiversity, Evolution and Conservation. This was exceedingly strange. It was almost midnight, I was many thousands of kilometers away from my university and batchmates and all this, in the midst of a global pandemic. Nevertheless, I was proud, and began to think of a year-long adventure leading to this moment. A year during which I met many expert researchers studying wonderfully niche topics, made friends, acquired hobbies and lived in one of the world’s most interesting cities
With the generous support of the Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation I was a step closer to turning my passion for the natural world into my profession as I travelled to London last year. I would study at UCL, the Natural History Museum (NHM) and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), institutions I had only ever dreamed to be a part of. Guided by wonderful teachers such as Dr Natalie Cooper, for the first time, my studies were focused on research tools and methodology rather than on theoretical concepts. I was learning how to design robust studies, program, analyse data, and in an age of misinformation, to effectively communicate science. My first opportunity to apply what I had learnt was in a project at the NHM. In my first piece of original research, I worked on how lens shape is influenced by ecology and development in frogs. Frogs are very interesting animals which transition from water to air as they metamorphose and also inhabit a wide range of habitats having different optical requirements. At the impressive NHM imaging lab, and with the help of my incredibly knowledgeable and supportive supervisors, Dr Dave Gower, Dr Jeff Streicher and Dr Katie Thomas, I analysed the CT scans of 123 species of frogs to see the effects of development and ecology on lens shape. To our knowledge, this was the first ever study looking at these effects across the frog phylogeny! We found that lens shape is generally spherical in tadpoles, which are adapted to an aquatic lifestyle, while the mostly terrestrial adults viewing in air have slightly flattened lenses for optimum focusing. An interesting result we found was that frogs which remain aquatic as adults as well as burrowing adults retain the lens shape they have as tadpoles. Though unsurprising in aquatic species, this may be the case in burrowers because they use their eyes for breeding which takes place in water. It might also be that burrowers are okay with being shortsighted since they forage underground. Through this project I developed a keen interest for visual ecology and was truly able to appreciate the value of museum collections and how rewarding it is to work at an exemplary institution.
However, just as this project was coming to an end, the COVID-19 pandemic reached the UK. The next few months were surreal. From attending conferences and exhibitions, meeting new people and exploring the city, I had to retreat to my room till the course was over, with a laboratory-based project I had planned being abruptly cancelled. However, I must recognize that I was more fortunate than most students, and with the continuous support I received from the Inlaks Foundation and from my supervisors I was able to get through this extremely difficult period. To adjust to the new remote working norms, the wonderful Dr Trenton Garner and Dr Gonçalo Rosa organized a computational project for me at ZSL. Working from my tiny bedroom in a now desolate student-accommodation, I was reminded that a huge part of wildlife biology and conservation consists of extensive screen time and is not always about glamorous field visits. Using long-term life history data for a Portuguese marbled newt population, I used modelling software to construct simulations and gain insights into the cause of their decline and future viability. Although their decline was presumed to be solely due to a lethal amphibian pathogen called ranavirus, my study found that the decline might have instead been the effect of multiple stressors. It seemed that an introduced invasive fish species in addition to the ranavirus was likely responsible for the newt decline and that the population was headed for extinction without necessary conservation efforts.
Having met so many warm and welcoming people during my course, I was lucky enough to be invited by the NHM researchers for a virtual herpetology journal club followed by a ‘pub quiz’ through zoom every Friday during this time. Like many others, I too developed a few lockdown hobbies to keep myself busy while I was not staring at my computer screen. I found more time to paint, learnt how to play the guitar and took up baking, hobbies which I will continue to pursue long after the pandemic has passed! Days would go by slowly, but before I knew it, I was handing in my final project report and was faced with a difficult decision. Although I would have loved to extend my stay in London, continuing to work with the wonderful people I met at the NHM and ZSL, given the uncertainty and with these institutions working remotely or at reduced capacity, I decided to return to Mumbai. From home, I am now preparing both my project reports into manuscripts for publication and applying for PhD programs in visual ecology around the world. As a side project, and to increase representation of South Asian biologists, I have also started “The Junglee Podcast” under the guidance of Dr Natalie Cooper. By interviewing researchers with my friend and co-host, Sumedh Singh, I hope to showcase and provide a platform for their work. My year in London was certainly the most rewarding and enriching experience of my life. I am eternally grateful to the Inlaks Foundation for believing in my work, providing me with the opportunity to become a better researcher and further cementing my desire to answer questions about the natural world.
