Aashik Krishnan
13 August 2025, 07:56 AM IST
Chaitanya Bhagavathiparambil, a native of Chevayur in Kozhikode, has been awarded a student fellowship worth ₹1.41 crore for this purpose by the UK Research and Innovation.
Chaitanya Bhagavathiparambil
Kozhikode: A Malayali researcher is heading to England to investigate the monsoon rains that fell over South Asia, including India, 5.3 million years ago. By studying microfossils found in sediment excavated 10 years ago from the depths of the Andaman Sea, this research aims to uncover details of the summer monsoon that occurred during the Pleistocene epoch (ice age), extending up to 11,000 years ago, over the South Asian region.
Chaitanya Bhagavathiparambil, a native of Chevayur in Kozhikode, is undertaking doctoral research at the University of Exeter, England. The excavation collection that began on November 29, 2014 and continued until January 29, 2015 formed the basis of this study. This topic was chosen for in-depth analysis based on that material. The UK’s Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC), under UK Research and Innovation, has awarded a student fellowship worth ₹1.41 crore (approximately £135,000) for this purpose.
It is hoped that this research will eventually shed light not only on the rainfall during that era but also on the life forms that existed at the time. Chaitanya is set to travel to England this month.
The research focuses on the time span from 5.3 million years ago to 2.6 million years ago (Pliocene epoch) and also from 2.6 million years ago onwards (Pleistocene epoch). It involves the study of saline content, nutrient composition and oceanic residues collected from assemblage fossils, which are believed to have originated from the outermost regions of the oceanic plates in the South Asian sector. This analysis is expected to lead to major findings.
Chaitanya has previously received the IIT Roorkee SPARK Fellowship, the Mitacs Globalink Research Internship and the Australian National University’s Future Research Talent Award (2024).
She completed her BS-MS degree in Geology from IISER Kolkata. She is the daughter of B P Girish, Production Manager at UniRoyal Marine Exporting, and V Sajna, Senior Nursing Officer at the Medical College Hospital. Her sister Chaitra is a wildlife habitat researcher.
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