Bhakti Chalak 

Shabeena M overcame the criticism of relatives and neighbours to become the first woman from the Lakshadweep Islands to get a doctorate. She defended her PhD thesis on Aquaculture and Microbiology last month.

Sabeena, 35, has been felicitated by the Lakshadweep administration. The topic of her research was 'Composition, Importance, and Diversity of Different Species of Algae in Lakshadweep Peninsula'.

Officials praised Sabeena for showing new aspects of the marine life in Lakshadweep through her research.

Hailing from the picturesque island of Lakshadweep, about 500 km from the Indian mainland, Shabeena M. showed an incredible performance through sheer courage and perseverance.

“What will you, as a woman, do studying aquaculture and microbiology?” was the repeated question that Shabeena encountered during her college days growing up at Androth, one of the inhabited islands in the Union territory of Lakshadweep.

On November 5 this year, she successfully defended her thesis titled ‘Zonation patterns, composition and diversity of macroalgal communities in the Lakshadweep Archipelago’ and has become the first woman from Lakshadweep to earn a PhD in marine sciences.

This was her befitting reply to all the naysayers.

At her felicitation ceremony, Sabeen said after her post-graduation, she was appointed as a teacher of fisheries at a local school in Androth in 2014.

Ever since she enrolled in graduation many people have been asking Shabeena, who lives in Kar has seen struggle since childhood. Her father died when she was in the 4th standard, the death of the head of the family made further education uncertain, but despite the circumstances she completed her graduation as well as post-graduation in Lakshadweep. She was the only female among only four students. After completing her studies, she joined a local school as a fisheries teacher in 2014-15. 

Due to very limited opportunities in Lakshadweep, he never thought of doing PhD. Not only this, they were not sure whether they would be guided to pursue higher education after graduation. But seeing Shabeena's interest in aquatic biology and microbiology, Idris Babu, an aquatic biologist at the Lakshadweep Institute of Science and Technology, and Suresh Kumar, a professor at the Kerala Malayalam University of Marine Biology, guided her to a Ph.D. Dr. S. Suresh Kumar also helped Shabeena, in 2016 Shabina enrolled for PhD and started research from 2017. 

Shabina had to travel to different islands of the Lakshadweep archipelago to collect various samples of marine plants and algae for research. He studied and researched marine plant and algae species on 12 islands, including two uninhabited islands, and used to take his infant daughter to Kochi for university research.

She used to stay there for a month or two and work on the thesis during that time. Meanwhile, she candidly admits that she could not complete the work due to the support of her husband, and parents-in-law.

Several important aspects emerged from Sachina's research. Of the 182 species of algae that once existed on the Lakshadweep Islands, only 96 species have been found to survive. 

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They highlighted the decline of the species due to marine mining and reliance on algae for turtle skin. Interestingly, seven new species were found for the first time in Lakshadweep waters. She says that in my childhood I saw a lot of grass, and algae in the coastal areas but now many of them have disappeared. Being the first female PhD holder in Lakshadweep is not only Shabina's achievement but her research is seen as the main source of knowledge in the field.