Position: Research Assistant – Biodiversity and Resource Monitoring Programme
Qualifications: M.Sc. Marine Biology, Pondicherry University, Port Blair campus, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, 2015. B.Sc. Life Sciences, Ramnarain Ruia College, Mumbai, 2012. Advanced Open Water Diver, PADI, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, 2015
E-mail: ishaankhot@gmail.com
Profile: I got the opportunity to spend two years in the Andaman Islands for my Masters in Marine Biology. These two years not only gave me a basic understanding of ocean processes and marine ecosystems but also exposed me to communities whose lives were entirely dependent on the ocean. I was greatly fascinated by the way human beings modify their environment and how the environment responds to these changes.
For my Masters project, I studied comparative fishery dynamics from the Andamans to understand the relative efficiency and ecological impacts of different fishing gears. I also tried to document community perceptions and conflicts arising out of differences in fishing power. I realized that it is important to understand all the aspects of a problem – ecological, socio-economic, political and cultural, in order to solve it and therefore I joined Dakshin.
I presently oversee Dakshin Foundation’s community-based fisheries monitoring efforts in Lakshadweep. In the near future, I would like to study changing trends in Lakshadweep’s traditional pole and line tuna fishery and the implications of recent developments in this fishery, such as the use of Fish Aggregating Devices. I am interested in broad-based, collaborative and interdisciplinary work that addresses ecological issues of social relevance.
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