YETI sessions discuss vital topics

A beautiful photo documentation of the snow leopard in the Himalayas, the first documentation of lakes and surrounding vegetation in remote corners of Arunachal Pradesh and how bees see were some of the topics discussed on the first three sessions of the Young Ecologists Talk and Interact (YETI 2013) which is underway at Nagaland University.
A presentation on the Himalayan pika, a relative of the rabbit, gave a firsthand account of the lifecycle of this small mammal, which lives in burrows in the high altitude areas of the Western Himalaya.
At Khonoma where there is a model village and a wildlife sanctuary for the beautiful Tragopan bird, a study has traced people’s attitudes to conserving their natural wealth. ArupjyotiSaikia, an environmental historian from IIT, Guwahati, spoke on the history of the Brahmaputra River, covering different aspects of the interaction between humans and the river over the last two million years.
Deepak Barua from Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune spoke about patterns in how trees that shed leaves every year adapt to different environmental conditions.
A WWF team working on community based conservation in Arunachal Pradesh had the chance to encounter unique vegetation and picturesque lakes in the mountains of the state. Flowering plants abound and transform the landscape during warm months. 
Starting with a plenary on the dynamics of mosquitoes carrying infection by GuhaDharmarajan, the third session had students talking about the population status and conservation of the Arunachal macaque, and personality in the common Indian toad. Session three had a symposium of a different nature, involving community leaders from Nagaland, who have been spearheading community, based conservation activities all over the state. 
A Church Reverend, and members of village council boards from Longleng, Sendengu and Tzulu spoke about their experience in maintaining protected areas in a culturally diverse landscape. Foundation for Ecological Security, an NGO based in Gujarat, has been working with most of these communities.
It may be noted that YETI is a unique conference, being organised entirely by student volunteers from across the country with support from several organizations.
The fifth edition of Young Ecologists Talk and Interact (YETI) in Nagaland University is going to consolidate the strong student network, involving the researchers from Nagaland and the Northeastern India, and with strong focus on the unique yet understudied rich biodiversity of the Northeast region of the country.