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Event - Let us talk about environment on 01 December 2012

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Mr. Dhurjati Chattopadhyay will speak on Ecological history of Kolkata & its surroundings, present situation, scope of preservation.


Dhurjati is a chartered engineer and a graduate electrical engineer from Jadavpur University. However his conviction for social, economic and environmental causes led him far away from a corporate career after a stint as a consulting engineer with major industrial corporations  Having specialized in research and development of power electronics systems, he decided to use his training and skills in the pursuit of blending technology and rural development including environmental projects. Dhurjati and his team have successfully designed and installed a solar lighting system in the Sunderban National Park in the Human-Tiger conflict zones. In 2011 he played a major role in the restoration of a large water body in Howrah which resulted in migratory birds flocking there after years of neglect and degradation. Dhurjati has also designed micro-water shed areas partnering with Ramkrishna Mission in rural Bengal. Dhurjati now heads an NGO named Bhalopahar in Purulia helping to work tribal communities in setting up schools, restoring habitat and reforestation.

 


Mr. Shyamal Datta - freelance photographer will present a slideshow entitled "Nature and Wildlife"

Born in India’s North Eastern frontier state of Assam - Shyamal Datta has been a freelance professional photographer for the past 18 years. His subjects have included wildlife with a special emphasis on endangered flora & fauna, indigenous peoples and natural landscapes. Having graduated in engineering in 1980 he had initially embarked on a corporate career that brought him to the shores of United States and Canada. Since then he has travelled extensively throughout the wilderness regions of North America and nature photography has become his heartfelt passion. So much so, that he finally concluded his corporate career by choice and turned to full time photography and travel. By then, he evolved from an amateur photographer to a serioushobbyist, attending workshops by masters and exhibiting his work using audiovisual presentations across the United States.

Having crisscrossed the North American continent in search of snow capped peaks, wildflowers, deserts, rock formations, ocean fronts and wildlife - he began to publish his articles and photographs in magazines and journals in the US.Some of his intense photography forays include capturing imagery of the impact of receding glaciers on polar bears in the Arctic Circle in subzero frigid conditions and capturing Aurora Borealis in Yukon Canada in freezing winter weather. Amongst a few highlights of his photo expeditions was tracking Sandhill Cranes on their migration flyway from Canada to the Platte River in Nebraska, USA and onward to Bosque Del Apache NWR and subsequently to the Gulf Coast in Texas.

Shyamal is presently based in Guwahati, Assam, with his family, where he is actively engaged with Aaranyak - one of India’s premier biodiversity and wildlife conservation NGO . He is currently working on several photo documentation projects focussing on threatened wildlife species of the Eastern Himalaya Biodiversity Hotspot and indigenous cultures of North East India