Scientist, Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Karlstr. 11,  76133, Karlsruhe, Germany 

Visiting Scientist, Chair of Silviculture, Institute of Forest Sciences, Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

Deputy Coordinator, International Union of Forest Research Organization's (IUFRO) Unit "Ecology and Silviculture of Oaks"

Member, IUFRO's Task Force: "Forest Adaptation and Restoration Under Global Change"

Email: somidh.saha@kit.edu; somidhs@gmail.com

I am a silviculturist and forest ecologist at the same time! We live in the epoch of Anthropocene where vast tracks of earth’s woodlands are somehow impacted or utilized by Homo sapiens. The human-modified forests should be “managed” concurrently for increasing biodiversity and provisioning ecosystem services (e.g., bioenergy, timber, water, etc.) in a sustainable manner. At the same time, the resilience of forests to global change must be increased. To achieve these goals, forest management should become more adaptive and flexible. However, contrasting goals in multifunctional forest management can result in trade-offs. I try to find how optimizing forest management systems and human interventions can reduce trade-offs over space and time. I want to understand the ecological, social, and economic processes responsible behind trade-offs. I investigate how alternative ways of forest restoration can be used to increase both silvicultural and ecological values of the forests.

I work in temperate as well as in subtropical and tropical forests. I apply both transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches to tackle the challenges in forest management. I do field and laboratory research to answer basic questions such as how species diversity increases forest productivity or reduce mortality, and how vulnerability of trees/forests to climate change impacts change over space and time. I do data crunching (e.g., meta-analyses, data syntheses, and systematic review) to find general trends ! At the same time, I perform social science research (e.g., questionnaire surveys, socioeconomic assessments) to understand stakeholders’ perceptions of social and cultural values of the forests.

In addition to doing research, I am involved in teaching and supervising students. I enjoy sharing my experiences with the students and hear their ideas and opinions. Until now, I mentored graduate theses of seven students which are ranged from field/laboratory-based research to desk-based work on the computer. I am open to developing research collaborations and hear interesting ideas and proposals.   

Upcoming activities/news:

1) Our work on restoration of oak-laurel subtropical hill forests of Mehghalaya was highlighted by IUFRO! 

2) A paper on the vulnerability of Himalayan forests to climate change and anthropogenic disturbances has been published online on 7th March 2018!

3) A project on the assessment of resilience of urban trees and forests to climate change had been qualified in the second round of evaluation by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Finger crossed!

4) Prem Prakash Singh (Ph.D. student, North Eastern Hill University, India) will be visiting my group in Karlsruhe from June to August 2018. He won the IUFRO-EFI Young Scientist Award! Congratulations Prem and looking forward to welcome you in Karlsruhe!

5) I am organizing IUFRO meeting on sub-tropical and tropical oaks in Lucknow, India (November 2018). Please registrar!