ZMT Alumnus and Ambassador:

Lata Gawada, India

Lata Gawada India

What was your position at ZMT?

I visited ZMT from February to April 2009 as NAM fellow. I had received NAM S & T 2008 fellowship, which I availed in the beginning of the year 2009. In 2018 I am with a fellowship of the Hanse Wissenschaftskolleg (HWK) at ZMT.

How did you benefit from your time at ZMT?

It was a nice time at ZMT. I learnt many things at ZMT. I learnt about the Isotope ratio mass spectrometry, CHN anlyser, chitin analysis etc. All the studies conducted at ZMT helped me towards my Ph.D. studies and for better understanding of the ocean biogeochemical processes. Apart from the laboratory work, it was good opportunity for me to visit other institutes for academic purpose. I visited some of the well-known institutes within Bremen and outside, like Max Planck institute for marine microbiology, University of Bremen, MARUM, Alfred Wegener Institute for polar and marine research etc. It was good to know the people at ZMT and have good friends. It was such a memorable time in Bremen.

What happened since you left the institute?

After my fellowship was over, I left ZMT and joined back at CSIR-NIO, Goa-India. I have continued to work in the field of ocean biogeochemistry for understanding the processes involved. Trying to understand the carbon cycling and mineralization in estuaries and open Ocean in context to changing climatology and rising temperatures. NAM fellowship helped me towards my research work back in India. Training and analysis conducted during fellowship have benefitted me a lot. As time passed, I became the ambassador for the ZMT alumni group for India.

Now I got the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg (HWK) fellowship for the postdoctoral research, which again gave me opportunity to work in collaboration with the ZMT in Germany. And now looking for some good future collaboration between ZMT and India and other countries in tropics as Leibniz-ZMT is focusing on the marine tropical research. India being a tropical country within the Indian Ocean region, it will be fantastic to work on the research ideas of the mutual interest. I am looking forward for some ambitious joint collaborations.