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Published by shawanchowdhury

My passion towards nature started in my childhood days when I preferred to roam around forests and open fields, surrounded by different types of vegetation layers. My interest ignited after getting admitted into the Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. From January 2014 to December 2016, I investigated how butterflies survive in a mega-populated tropical inner-city habitat, Dhaka, and my findings were too alarming. Dhaka is a city of more than 17 million inhabitants and thus, the existence of plants and animals is a great wonder. Unfortunately, the diversity and species richness of butterflies are sharply declining with time and there are very few to pay heed to this; as most conservationists are enthusiastic to work on the mega-fauna. However, I am intrigued by how the diversity of these beautiful creatures fluctuates significantly from one season to another and from one place to the other. During my field surveys, I have noticed that insect populations including those of butterflies are shrinking throughout Bangladesh and that the decline is larger in more human populated areas. Apart from that, I have also observed some butterfly species which discretely recorded in different regions of Bangladesh. For instance, the flight of Vanessa cardui is still unknown in Bangladesh as no such work on butterfly migration has ever been conducted. While investigating the scattered distribution of this specific butterfly species, I went through several publications and explored its migratory nature. Anticipating my previous experiences and interest, in my Ph.D. at the UQ, I will primarily focus on Butterfly Migration (Migratory Pathways, Shifting Availability of Resources and their Conservation Measures) under Professor Richard Fuller (primary supervisor) and Professor Myron Zalucki (Co-supervisor).

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