2007 - Present, Doctoral student (Ph.D), Department of Geography, Kanas State University

 2006- M.A, Geography, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, USA

2006 - Graduate Certificate in Geographic Information Systems , Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, USA

2001 - PGDFM (M.S ), Forestry Management, Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal, India

1998 - B.S ( Botany, Zoology, Chemistry), Delhi University, Delhi, India

Graduate Advisor:  Douglas G.Goodin

I am a doctoral student in the department of geography at Kansas State University. My academic and research interest includes forestry, landscape ecology, advance spatial statistics and remote sensing. I am involved in an application of GIS and remote sensing tools to develop a habitat based disease prediction model. Currently, I am associated with the project titled " The Impact of Rapid Anthropogenic Land Cover Change in the Chaco and Interior Atlantic Forest in Paraguay on Hantavirus Ecology."  

RELATIONSHIPS OF RODENT HABITATS VEGETATION STRUCTURE WITH PREVELANCE OF HANTAVIRUS INFECTION IN PARAGUAY

Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) is one of the many rodent-hosted zoonoses, which poses a threat to public health. Human-induced land cover change has directly, or indirectly contributed to HPS outbreaks in the recent past. Hantavirus ecology is directly related to rodent ecology. This study focuses on developing an understanding of the spatial structure of rodent habitat and assessing its potential relationship with hantavirus distribution. The vegetation structure variables, horizontal density, vertical density, ground coverage, plant species composition and relative importance of plant species were identified to measure the spatial structure of the rodent habitat. The study was conducted in six different mark recapture sites in Mbaracayu Forest Biosphere Reserve, Paraguay. The study revealed the unique spatial structure of each study site influences the distribution and abundance of rodent species in general and the principal hantavirus reservoir rodent, Akodon montensis. The presence of the reservoir rodent is higher in the sites with lower rodent diversity. Among the six study sites the most preferred habitat of Akodon montensis is Rama III B (forest), Jejui mi A and Jejui mi B. The least preferred habitat for the species is Rama III A. The study also found out that the reservoir rodent prefers areas with intermediate level of disturbance. The proportion of hantavirus seropositive Akodon montensis is higher in Rama III B and Rama III A, the most preferred habitat and the less preferred habitat. Therefore, the study concluded that higher density of principal reservoir rodent does not necessarily mean higher hantavirus seroprevalence.