Shalini Gupta
GISDE/M.A. '03
 
1. Please describe your present professional position? Please include the URL of your organization.
 
Currently, I am pursuing my Ph.D. with the International Max Planck Research School for Earth System Science and Modeling (IMPRS) at the University of Kassel in Germany.
 
The URL of my organization: www.earthsystemschool.de.
The URL of my university is: http://usf.uni-kassel.de/usf.
 
2. What do you find satisfying about your position?
 
My Ph.D. research includes work in various fields like economics, forestry, modeling, policymaking and climate change. I feel that it is a very interdisciplinary research, which contributes a lot to IMPRS's main objective. I am sure it will help me to be a valuable part of the scientific community later. Apart from that, my work hours are very flexible and my pay is very good.
 
3. How did the GISDE program at Clark University help to prepare you?
 
The GISDE program at Clark University provided me with an insight into various major topics like remote sensing, GIS, modeling, environmental policy etc., and helped me to understand the link between these topics. This is really very useful to me in my interdisciplinary research here at the IMPRS.
Also, Clark organized projects and assignments that gave me experience working both independently as well as in a group. The projects were designed to promote logical and analytical thinking while keeping the workload at a reasonable amount. The professors guided me step-by-step and their guidance is really proving to be helpful. I do not get that quality of guidance here as a Ph.D. student, as I am expected to complete the major tasks myself.
 
4. Why should prospective students enroll in the GISDE program at Clark University?
 
For anyone interested in pursuing interdisciplinary research or any other scientific career, I would recommend Clark University for the same reasons it has helped me.
 
5. What was the topic of your research while at Clark University?

Land Use Change Modeling and Biodiversity Conservation in India.