Madhumi Mitra

Dr. Madhumi Mitra has always felt that human beings exist within the wider ecosystem, rather than above or apart from it. A love for the outdoors, and interactions with nature’s flora and fauna, are among of her earliest memories. “I always knew that I wanted to be an environmentalist,” Mitra says. “The way I saw people treating the environment made me sad. I knew I needed to do something that would make people become aware of the environment, and respect it.” Now, as an assistant professor in the Department of Natural Sciences at University of Maryland, Eastern Shore (UMES), Mitra is living her dream of “making a difference” by educating others about the importance of the natural world.

Mitra began studying the environment in her native India, earning a Bachelors of Science in botany with minors in geology and physiology from Presidency College, Calcutta, and a master’s degree in botany from University Colleges of Science and Technology, Calcutta. She moved to the United States in 1991 and taught as a lecturer in environmental science at UMES while working on her doctoral dissertation in cretaceous palynology, paleoenvironment and climate from the Department of Plant Biology at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. She completed her doctorate and became an assistant professor at UMES in 2002, where she currently serves as a graduate faculty in the system-wide MEES (Marine, Estuarine, and Environmental Sciences) Program.

In addition to teaching, Mitra serves as the Biology Education Program’s coordinator, and has also received a number of teaching, research, and service grants from various federal agencies. She has developed and expanded additional courses at UMES, including Marine Botany, a methods course in Biology, Principles of Geology, Marine and Estuarine Ecology, and Marine Natural Resources. She is currently in the process of developing a new course in proposal and scientific writing. “Teaching is a noble profession and I am very passionate about it,” she says.

Although Mitra loves the education and service components of her work, conducting research has been the highlight of her career. Her major ongoing research, funded by the United StatesDepartment of Agriculture, investigates the role of Delmarva (Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia) seaweeds in marine ecosystems. “We are investigating the beneficial uses for these nuisance seaweed species, so that in the future they could be harvested for human nutrition and health products,” Mitra says. She notes that an overabundance of edible seaweeds in the marine and estuarine waters can lead to blooms, resulting in anoxic conditions detrimental to aquatic life. However, Mitra notes that before harvesting, it is critical to determine how much seaweed is necessary for a healthy ecosystem, as many other aquatic plants and animals are dependent on them for their nutrition and survival. The project has grown into a large collaborative effort, involving several colleagues across departments, graduate and undergraduate researchers, and aquafarmers. Mitra feels that this project could become a large-scale, collaboration at both the national and international levels. “I also enjoy incorporating different facets into my work…I do believe in green engineering and green chemistry, and that is where we are heading with assistance from environmentally-conscious chemists and engineers,” she says.

While Mitra is satisfied with the path her career has taken, her rapid advancement sometimes proved to be an obstacles as well as an achievement. It was not always easy to balance her family and her career; in fact, she had to take time off from her doctoral work to move to Puerto Rico with her husband, Dr. Abhijit Nagchaudhuri, and her then-two-year-old daughter, Auromita. “My husband needed my support, and I decided that it was important for us to stay together with our daughter,” Mitra says. After teaching for only a year at a private school in Puerto Rico, she decided to return to North Carolina State to complete her doctoral work. “It was a tough decision, but I was able to do it because of the support I received from my husband, parents, and friends,” she says. “I saved my scholarship money to fly to Puerto Rico every other month to be with my family, even though it was expensive. My parents were also very supportive, and went to Puerto Rico for a year to live with my husband and daughter.” Dr. Mitra says she owes her career to her husband and her family, for their inspiration, encouragement, and recognition of her love for the natural world. In terms of major career mentors, however, Dr. Mitra says she has largely guided herself: “There were many people throughout my career who supported me mentally and spiritually, but in terms of my career achievements, I am totally self-made.”

Advising and motivating students is another major part of Mitra’s professional life that she enjoys immensely. “I try to involve my students as much as possible in my research,” she says. “I have an open door policy with my advisees. I try to help them find jobs and internships. I love to mentor, and many of my students have done independent studies and undergraduate research with me. They are really motivated…we learn from one another.” Apparently, her students are equally excited about interacting with her: in 2004, Mitra received the Outstanding Teaching Faculty Award from the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences. She has also received the Chrysalis Scholarship for outstanding academic achievement from the Association for Women Geoscientists.

Mitra is committed to promoting the next generation of students as a whole, and has received accolades for her efforts in this endeavor. She is the principal investigator of a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) funded pre-service teacher program called PETALS (Partnership to Enhance Teaching and Advance Learning in Schools, acronym coined by Mitra) at UMES. According to Mitra, the program’s primary objective is to spur a nationwide increase in the quantity, quality, and diversity of K-12 teachers “competent and proficient in teaching science and mathematics using appropriate technology.” Mitra and a colleague have collaborated with NASA and the NIA to organize the 2006 National Pre-Service Teacher Conference in Alexandria, Virginia, which UMES will host in 2007.

Mitra acknowledges that pursuing her career has required personal sacrifice that at times has outweighed the satisfaction of her work; however, she believes in what she does, and her desire to protect the environment remains as strong as ever. “My life has been meaningful, and for this I am thankful to the Eternal One, for I believe if you turn to the Divine and ask, you will get what you need—not necessarily what you imagine you need but the true thing you need, you will get,” she says. Among the most satisfying rewards of her work is the ability to work with and mentor minority students. UMES is a historically black land grant institution established in 1890, and Mitra relishes her ability to be so actively involved in promoting minority participation in environmental sciences. “Nearly all of my undergraduate students are minorities—I teach them, promote them, and encourage them every day,” she says. “It is an important cause, and I will continue to help them as long as I live.”

Mitra has this advice for minority students interested in the environment: “More minorities need to enter this field. We really need more – we have proved our worth and excellence in various fields, now we should turn our attention to the environment. People go into certain fields for money…this field is not always lucrative, but the satisfaction you get down deep is invaluable. Nature and Environment manifest the Divine.”