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Alumni Publications
 Khanal, G., Suryawanshingh, K.R., Awasthi, K.D., Dhakale, M., Subedi, N., Nath, D., Kandel, R.C., & Kelkar, N. (2016). Irrigation demands aggravate fishing threats to river dolphins in Nepal. Biological Conservation (In press).
Riverine species are adapted to natural habitat changes caused by seasonal flood-pulses. However, abrupt river channel changes following flooding events intersect with social systems of land and water management (e.g. agriculture, fisheries) and in turn generate significant consequences for conservation of endangered aquatic species. We investigated trade-offs between changing river habitat availability and exposure to fishing intensity for a small population of Ganges river dolphins Platanista gangetica gangetica in the Karnali basin of Nepal. A major natural flooding event in the Karnali basin in 2010 caused the river channel to shift from the Geruwa (flows through a protected area where fishing is restricted) to the Karnali channel (high fishing activity, agriculture-dominated), where dolphins moved in response. Based on our survey data (2009–2015) and long-term hydrological trends in the basin, we found that irrigation diversions since 2012 had aggravated fishing impacts on dolphins, suggesting that their new habitat had become an ‘ecological trap’...
 Otieno, T., Mwinami, T., Ngala, M., Oduor, S., Ng’weno, F., Musila, S., & Kimwele, C. (2016). Avifauna of Boni-Dodori National Reserves, Lamu and Garissa Counties, Kenya. African Journals Online. July 2016, 36 (2): 1-16.
A comprehensive avian survey was conducted between April 2012 and November 2013 in Boni and Dodori National Reserves, the connecting Aweer Community Conservancy corridor, and the adjacent forests. Survey methods were Timed Species Counts (TSCs), mist netting and opportunistic observations. Six different habitat types were identified and sampled: 1) grassland with Hyphaene palms 2) a mosaic of forest groves, grassland and Hyphaene palm savanna 3) dense thickets 4) wetlands 5) forest with dense undergrowth and 6) acacia woodlands. A total of 184 bird species was recorded, including two Near Threatened bird species (southern banded snake eagle Circaetus fasciolatus and Fischer’s turaco Tauraco fischeri), 19 Palaearctic migrants, two Afrotropical migrants and 14 East African coastal biome species...
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Abhishek Gopal was accepted to the Master’s programme in 
