Thiruvananthapuram  :

Twenty-three-year old Aneesha from Valiyathura fishing hamlet is now in the league of elite research students. She has become the only student from the state to be selected for training in biodiversity and taxonomy from the famous Field Studies Council, an environmental education charity in the United Kingdom.

Eldest daughter of fisher parents Ani and Reena, Aneesha has always set herself high standards in academics. After studying at local schools and graduation from St Xavier’s, Thumba, she bagged the 18th rank in an all-India exam to get admission at the MSc programme conducted by Department of Ocean Studies and Marine Biology, Pondicherry University, on its Port Blair campus in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. She is the first student from a fishing community to join the campus.  ‘’When I contacted the University for a stipend reserved for fishermen’s children, the authorities were not aware of it,’’ she says with a chuckle.

According to Aneesha, it’s her interest in the people and life of fishermen community she hails from that got her into marine ecology. She is also part of the NGO Friends of Marine Life, which conducted the first documentation to prepare a bioregistry in Thiruvananthapuram coast for Kerala State Biodiversity Board in 2013-15.  The effort made her realise that fishermen like her father who depend on hook-and-line fishing are in for trouble as the natural rocky reefs are getting damaged by pollution and construction activities in the name of development. Her house situated at the south of Valiyathura pier was affected in the recent sea surge which, according to her, has to be partly blamed for dredging activities nearby.

‘‘After completing my studies, I want to expand my study to the entire coastline of the state and document the eco-sensitive areas,’’ she says.  Aneesha says she can be more effective in research as she understands the ‘language’ of her own community.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram /  by Unnikrishnan S / June 22nd, 2016