- Group Leader and Senior Researcher: Research Group Sylvanus, Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
- "KIT-Associate-Fellow" at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Geo and Environmental Sciences, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
- Regular lecturer at the Institute of Geoecology and Geography and the Joseph-Gottlieb Kölreuter Institute for Plant Sciences at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
- Provided guest lectures/seminars at Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg, Yale University, and Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Emails: [email protected]; [email protected]
About my research
I love nature, plants, and wildlife. I strive to understand their responses to environmental and anthropogenic factors in various ways. I often ponder how we perceive the benefits we derive from plants and animals in both natural and urban forest ecosystems. Often, we take these benefits for granted and recognize their true value only after they become scarce or disappear from the ecosystem. Therefore, I aim to quantify these benefits as accurately as possible, along with the underlying processes that drive them. In current scientific literature, we refer to nature's benefits as ecosystem "services" (a very anthropocentric perspective, isn't it?), and we often forget that these "services" can become the "sacrifices" of ecosystems. Thus, I consider myself more of a caregiver than a manager of nature.
My primary research interests lie in the fields of urban forestry, urban ecology, and forest restoration following catastrophic disturbances. I was trained in Zoology, Forest Ecology, and Silviculture during my university education. Broadly, my research aims to understand the impact of climate change and urbanization on ecosystem services and functions. Therefore, I study how changes in forest structure and composition, from urban to rural/natural gradients, relate to ecological and biophysical processes and how these relationships influence the supply, synergy, and trade-offs between different types of benefits we obtain from forests. I am particularly interested in understanding how climate change and urbanization alter ecological and biophysical processes.
I aim to explore how findings can be practically implemented to enhance our forests' social-ecological resilience and improve human well-being. To this end, I engage stakeholders from all interest groups while designing and creating future forests to ensure environmental and social justice for everyone. In my view, sustainable solutions to prevent forest dieback, biodiversity decline, and the climate crisis can only be achieved in a democratic and free society by inviting and involving stakeholders and multiple sectors from the onset of the research project. Consequently, some of my research endeavors are interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary. I combine long-term field ecological observation with controlled laboratory investigations and living lab (Reallabor) experiments involving stakeholders.
My research activities are primarily based in Germany. I also collaborate with researchers from India, the USA, Ghana, Indonesia, and South Korea.
About me
My first name in Sanskrit ("Somidh" in Latin script, "समिध " in Devanagari, and "সমিধ " in Bengali script) means sacred wood from species such as Aegle marmelos, Santalum album, and Ficus spp., which are burned during Yajñá, or religious fire ceremonies, to worship the Hindu God of Fire, Agni.
I was born in the village of Bhowraguri, located in the Kokrajhar district of Assam, India, near the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas. Until the age of 10, I lived in the village of Lhamoyzingkha in Bhutan (known as Kalikhola in Nepali), in the lush, green Himalayan valley of the Sankosh River. My early education took place at Lhamoyzingkha Central School, also known as Kalikhola Junior High School. My childhood in Bhutan, surrounded by the breathtaking forests of the majestic Himalayas, had a profound influence on my later education and career.
My family moved to Bhadreswar in the Hooghly district of West Bengal, India, in 1991. I studied from class five to twelve in the neighboring city of Chandernagore at Kanailal Vidyamandir, a higher secondary school established by the French Colonial Administration as École de Sainte Marie/Dupleix College in 1862. I graduated with a “B.Sc. Honours in Zoology" from Presidency College, University of Calcutta, in 2003. An excursion to Jim Corbett National Park in northern India as a B.Sc. student rekindled the jungle lore of my childhood and motivated me to study Forestry.
I completed an M.Sc. degree in Forestry from the Forest Research Institute, Dehra Dun, India, in 2005. The German Forester Sir Dietrich Brandis established the Forest Research Institute of India, also known as the "father of tropical silviculture," in 1878 as the first Western forestry training school outside Europe. My interest in German forestry and sustainability research grew when I was a student at the Forest Research Institute of India.
I worked as a forester in the eastern Indian state of Odisha from 2005 to 2008 at Ballarpur Industries Limited, formerly India's largest pulp and paper company. This company received a large tract of forests on lease for bamboo harvesting and sustainable management from the State Forest Development Corporation.
I moved to Germany in 2008 with a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD - Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst) to pursue a Ph.D. (Dr. rer. nat.) in Forestry at Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Jürgen Bauhus. I completed my postdoctoral research in Freiburg, where I worked until 2016. On January 1, 2017, I joined the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) as a researcher. Currently, I am employed by the KIT as a senior researcher in a permanent position.
Cooking is my favorite hobby. I also enjoy hiking. I am a vegetarian and do not smoke or drink alcohol.
Awards
2024: Young Investigator Network Grant Award with Dr. Susanne Benz from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
2021: Young Investigator Network Award of 2021 with Dr. Claudia Bizzarri from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
2020: KIT-Associate-Fellow award from the President and Dean (Civil Engineering, Geo- and Environmental Sciences) of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
2019: KIT-Junior Research Group award from the Vice President Research of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
2011: Best Poster Award on the Graduate School Day from the Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg
2008: German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) award to do full time Ph.D. study at the Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg
2006: German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) award to participate a summer school at the Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg
2001: T.S. Sterling Memorial Scholarship from the Office of Bursar, Presidency College, University of Calcutta
I love nature, plants, and wildlife. I strive to understand their responses to environmental and anthropogenic factors in various ways. I often ponder how we perceive the benefits we derive from plants and animals in both natural and urban forest ecosystems. Often, we take these benefits for granted and recognize their true value only after they become scarce or disappear from the ecosystem. Therefore, I aim to quantify these benefits as accurately as possible, along with the underlying processes that drive them. In current scientific literature, we refer to nature's benefits as ecosystem "services" (a very anthropocentric perspective, isn't it?), and we often forget that these "services" can become the "sacrifices" of ecosystems. Thus, I consider myself more of a caregiver than a manager of nature.
My primary research interests lie in the fields of urban forestry, urban ecology, and forest restoration following catastrophic disturbances. I was trained in Zoology, Forest Ecology, and Silviculture during my university education. Broadly, my research aims to understand the impact of climate change and urbanization on ecosystem services and functions. Therefore, I study how changes in forest structure and composition, from urban to rural/natural gradients, relate to ecological and biophysical processes and how these relationships influence the supply, synergy, and trade-offs between different types of benefits we obtain from forests. I am particularly interested in understanding how climate change and urbanization alter ecological and biophysical processes.
I aim to explore how findings can be practically implemented to enhance our forests' social-ecological resilience and improve human well-being. To this end, I engage stakeholders from all interest groups while designing and creating future forests to ensure environmental and social justice for everyone. In my view, sustainable solutions to prevent forest dieback, biodiversity decline, and the climate crisis can only be achieved in a democratic and free society by inviting and involving stakeholders and multiple sectors from the onset of the research project. Consequently, some of my research endeavors are interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary. I combine long-term field ecological observation with controlled laboratory investigations and living lab (Reallabor) experiments involving stakeholders.
My research activities are primarily based in Germany. I also collaborate with researchers from India, the USA, Ghana, Indonesia, and South Korea.
About me
My first name in Sanskrit ("Somidh" in Latin script, "समिध " in Devanagari, and "সমিধ " in Bengali script) means sacred wood from species such as Aegle marmelos, Santalum album, and Ficus spp., which are burned during Yajñá, or religious fire ceremonies, to worship the Hindu God of Fire, Agni.
I was born in the village of Bhowraguri, located in the Kokrajhar district of Assam, India, near the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas. Until the age of 10, I lived in the village of Lhamoyzingkha in Bhutan (known as Kalikhola in Nepali), in the lush, green Himalayan valley of the Sankosh River. My early education took place at Lhamoyzingkha Central School, also known as Kalikhola Junior High School. My childhood in Bhutan, surrounded by the breathtaking forests of the majestic Himalayas, had a profound influence on my later education and career.
My family moved to Bhadreswar in the Hooghly district of West Bengal, India, in 1991. I studied from class five to twelve in the neighboring city of Chandernagore at Kanailal Vidyamandir, a higher secondary school established by the French Colonial Administration as École de Sainte Marie/Dupleix College in 1862. I graduated with a “B.Sc. Honours in Zoology" from Presidency College, University of Calcutta, in 2003. An excursion to Jim Corbett National Park in northern India as a B.Sc. student rekindled the jungle lore of my childhood and motivated me to study Forestry.
I completed an M.Sc. degree in Forestry from the Forest Research Institute, Dehra Dun, India, in 2005. The German Forester Sir Dietrich Brandis established the Forest Research Institute of India, also known as the "father of tropical silviculture," in 1878 as the first Western forestry training school outside Europe. My interest in German forestry and sustainability research grew when I was a student at the Forest Research Institute of India.
I worked as a forester in the eastern Indian state of Odisha from 2005 to 2008 at Ballarpur Industries Limited, formerly India's largest pulp and paper company. This company received a large tract of forests on lease for bamboo harvesting and sustainable management from the State Forest Development Corporation.
I moved to Germany in 2008 with a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD - Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst) to pursue a Ph.D. (Dr. rer. nat.) in Forestry at Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Jürgen Bauhus. I completed my postdoctoral research in Freiburg, where I worked until 2016. On January 1, 2017, I joined the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) as a researcher. Currently, I am employed by the KIT as a senior researcher in a permanent position.
Cooking is my favorite hobby. I also enjoy hiking. I am a vegetarian and do not smoke or drink alcohol.
Awards
2024: Young Investigator Network Grant Award with Dr. Susanne Benz from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
2021: Young Investigator Network Award of 2021 with Dr. Claudia Bizzarri from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
2020: KIT-Associate-Fellow award from the President and Dean (Civil Engineering, Geo- and Environmental Sciences) of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
2019: KIT-Junior Research Group award from the Vice President Research of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
2011: Best Poster Award on the Graduate School Day from the Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg
2008: German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) award to do full time Ph.D. study at the Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg
2006: German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) award to participate a summer school at the Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg
2001: T.S. Sterling Memorial Scholarship from the Office of Bursar, Presidency College, University of Calcutta
