NEW DELHI: Most of us dream of studying abroad, especially Harvard, but this Delhi-based professor has set a different example for all of us as the Harvard University has designed a graduate course based on his book titled Life in the Himalayas. The US-based university has started the ‘Biodiversity of the Himalayan region’ course from this year.
Maharaj K Pandit, who is environmental scientist and professor at Delhi University (DU), has worked on Himalayan ecology and it’s conservation for more than two decades. His work, which has been compiled in the form Life in the Himalayas, has also been published by the Harvard University Press. The book that deals with cultural, social, geographical and human aspects of Himalayas will be released on June 29.
Pandit, who is the only DU alumnus to be awarded with the highest fellowship of Radcliffe College (Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard) for research on Himalayas, says, “I am very happy that my hard work of two years has borne fruit. An integrated account on the Himalayas is now in public domain. The 50-million-year old history of the Himalayas, over eight-thousand-year-old history of humans and their role in shaping the mountain is well-illustrated in the book.”
“It was great learning experience. It took me two years to complete the book which highlights the challenges faced by the region–the earthquakes floods, unprecedented dam building and its impacts on human and nature,” says the 58-year-old.
Pandit is the first person to establish a ‘Himalaya Lab’ in DU.