Renee Borges - Session 01, 2022-02-14

(00:00:25) Bombay – the foundational years Renee begins by talking about growing up in Bombay, and how she thinks it is the best city in the world. Going to Canossa Convent was foundational – there were children from all kinds of backgrounds and many with special needs, esp. Down's syndrome. Testing for it wasn’t common practice then. She talks about her father being a renowned cancer surgeon and mentions that she has just finished a biography of him. She talks about her mother, who had a B.Sc. in Botany and a great love for plants. Her mother’s garden won an award from the National Society of the Friends of Trees. After school, Renee went to St Xavier's College. She notes that there was a judicious balance of art, culture and scholarship at the college, and learning was fun. She remembers Professor Jangoo Mistry as an influential figure, and the Creativity Club he started. She talks about being allowed to skip an exam for a trip to Bharatpur, something that might not be possible in a college today. She also mentions that Zakir Husain was an alumnus, and that going to St Xavier’s has been a family tradition as her parents and siblings too graduated from there. She also remembers Prof Gandhi, an exceptional teacher who taught co-ordinate geometry, and actively encouraged students to think, uncommon in today's schools and colleges. She still has her notes from his class. She remembers Jayant Udgaonkar was in the same class as her. [Archivist’s note: First name of Professor Gandhi not provided]

(00:22:23) Bombay Natural History Society and how it paved her career Renee joined the BNHS when she was in college. She talks about how this opened up the natural world to her in a serious way. They had weekly trips to Borivali National Park (now Sanjay Gandhi National Park) where they participated in bird counts, leopard censuses, learnt how to make herbaria and even a bit of taxidermy. They also had full access to the Blatter Herbarium (BLAT) in St Xavier's. She also spent many evenings helping Humayun Abdulali, who was revising his bird collection catalogues at that time. He was known for his temper and most people were terrified of him, but she wasn’t. She remembers working with him on the Crested Serpent Eagle (Spilornis cheela) collection and on the Hill Myna (Gracula reliogiosa) collection. He was looking for sub-species. She recalls arguing with him about the best way to measure the lappets of the Hill Mynas. This was a time before Image J and other software, and she remembers how precious the Vernier callipers were as tool. She also interacted very closely with Salim Ali and spent many days in Kihim, where his family had a week end home. He asked her to write a set of articles in the newspapers about the natural world. The first thing she wrote about was "Colours in Nature", in the Times of India. She still has newspaper cuttings of the articles she wrote in those days. Renee recalls that partridge sandwiches were the favourite of both, and how they would always carry some on their trips. She remarks at how the times have changed now. She also mentions field trips to Point Calimere with the BNHS. The importance of natural history was inculcated in her at this time, and by now, she had decided to pursue ecology as a career.

(00:33:45) M.Sc. and applying for a PhD abroad After her B.Sc., she studied for her M. Sc.in Animal Physiology at the Royal Institute of Science, now the Institute of Science. She was not terribly stimulated by the teaching here, and remembers having to commute to different colleges across Bombay for lectures. She had already decided to travel abroad for a PhD as there were few opportunities in India in the field of ecology. That was the time when the US Fish and Wildlife Service had a close connection with BNHS, collaborating on Salim Ali’s long-term project on bird migrations. They were also exploring the possibility of China and Russia spying through these migrating birds. She learnt bird ringing and mist netting by volunteering with this project. The US FWS had also advertised a one-month workshop in Kanha National Park in 1982, and wildlife scientists from the US and Australia came there as resource persons. She attended this workshop, and remembers Mark Westoby and Stephen Harold Berwick. She says that she, “had my fill of tigers there”. Dr Hemendra Singh Panwar was the head of Kanha NP at that time. She remembers an incident of cannibalism where a male tiger started feeding on another male he had killed in a fight. During this workshop, she learnt census techniques that wildlife biologists typically learn such as making casts of pug marks, different types of transects, tranquilisation techniques, etc. She got her first copy of Odum (Fundamentals of Ecology) during this workshop. She had also written the GRE, including one in advanced biology, and got a 99 percentile. She recalls that Salim Ali was invited to give the valedictory certificates at this workshop, and her mother had sent her GRE results through him. He also gave a hand written recommendation letter for her PhD applications. This was the time when Renee realised that wildlife biology was different from ecology, and that she wanted to do ecology. She notes that there aren't any good ecology textbooks since then, and that she is trying to get one written for India.

(00:44:49) Applying for a PhD abroad Renee recalls that it was expensive to send the PhD applications via airmail and scholarships were tough to get. She got through to Berkeley, UC Davis and Cornell, but there were no scholarships in these places. Oscar Owre, a friend of Salim Ali's was holding the Maytag Chair at the University of Miami, and there was an associated scholarship, which she applied for and got in 1982. Soon after reaching the US, there were a few months of intense reading to catch up on ecology and evolution. Theodore H Fleming was her PhD advisor. He was known as the Batman of the Neotropics, but also studied plant–animal interactions. Renee wanted to do her PhD research in India, and had to find her own funding for that. So, she spent some time writing grants and proposals for this research. At the end of ‘82, the BNHS was having a big jubilee celebration (centenary year), and she came to India for that and explored the possibilities for her research topic during that time (semester break). She had started thinking of Giant Squirrels and herbivory, since they were on the CITES list as an endangered species, and she had developed an interest in phytochemistry. She got a grant from the US Fish and Wildlife Service for her PhD field work which was from PL-480 funds. She remembers 1982 as being a very busy year, that bred independence. On being asked why she chose to do her PhD in India, she says that there were opportunities and projects available abroad, but she wanted to establish and develop her understanding of Indian systems. She mentions that her thesis committee from day one included experts on her research topic from both within and outside the university, and how their feedback was valuable.

(00:56:38) Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) and trip to Costa Rica In 1983, she was one of 24 students selected for the field biology course by the Organisation for Tropical Studies, a consortium of universities from North and Central America. She spent two months in Costa Rica for this, and talks about the diversity of habitat types there – from volcanic lakes to tropical cloud forests and cerrados. The OTS had field stations across Costa Rica, and students spent 2–3 days in a place and conducted mini-projects. At each place, they were also given lectures by resident researchers and faculty. She recalls analysing data before the time of computers – using a slide rule, calculator and log tables – and doing statistical tests and finding p-values by hand. Students were exposed to a wealth of ideas in this trip. For instance, at La Selva Biological Station, researchers were trying out some of the first experiments in radio telemetry and had radio collared bushmaster snakes. The bushmasters are highly venomous, so the students were also given first-aid training on the very first day, including how to give antivenom injections, which they practiced on oranges. She has vivid memories of the Monte Verde cloud forests and the golden toads, which are now extinct due to the chytrid fungus. She also recalled visiting the Tortuguero National Park on the Atlantic Coast and tagging Ridley turtles when they came to the arribada, and a giant boa at La Selva with 50 babies. Another highlight of this trip was meeting Daniel Janzen, who is such an important figure in tropical biology. She mentions his ‘Para taxonomy’ initiative which involves local people in identifying diversity for posterity. She finds his work very inspiring. Renee remembers this trip as a being a steep learning curve for all the students and that they got on famously, and mentions that she is still in touch with many people from that time.

(01:10:00) Starting field work in India Renee chose two places for her PhD field - Magod in North Karnataka, a site of an abandoned dam, and Bhimashankar, a former sacred grove. At Magod, she was allotted one of the houses built for the engineers. She recalls that the Karnataka Forest Department was housed in Vidhan Soudha in Bangalore at that time, and remembers spending hours there waiting for her research permit, reading War and Peace. It was much easier to obtain the permit in Maharashtra. She looked for sites where the squirrels were not hunted and were not afraid of people, as she needed to conduct focal animal sampling for the whole day. At Bhimashankar, she got accommodation through the Tourism Development Corporation on a long lease. She recalls that the local people there had never encountered a single girl telling them what she needed, and driving around in her vehicle and living alone. She started her work there in November–December, a time when very strong winds hit the plateau every year and the trees are shaking, the whole forest shakes. She panicked and made a trunk call to her advisor, who calmed her down and encouraged her to persist. The winds did settle down and she was able to do her field work. She also chose two sites because they had different floristics and therefore different phytochemical combinations, and that would help in understanding how squirrels chose what plants to feed on.

(01:19:05) Field assistants – bonding and integrating with the local communities Initially, Renee was accompanied by her to-be husband at that time, Ulhas Rane. Renee recalls the day when their vehicle got stuck in some sticky mud, and they asked a Siddhi boy from the village who was standing and looking at them, to help. He helped them get the wheel out, and became her chief assistant, as he spoke Konkani. Renee couldn't speak Kannada, but she could speak Konkani with Mahadeva, the Siddhi boy. She had many other assistants, but says that Mahadeva was her best friend and assistant. He was an amazing person, as he was also epileptic, but it was considered a sign of the Devi visiting him, and he was considered blessed by the villagers. He refused to take medication for this reason. Renee recalls how he later he decided to elope with a girl from the Bhat community, but that didn't work out, and they were brought back. The Siddhi community in this village were unique as they are descendants of Ethiopian slaves. The Bhat young boys went to a Sanskrit school and one of her Bhat field helpers became a Sanskrit pandit. Renee says that she learnt so much from Mahadeva, and that he was brilliant at forest craft and kept her safe. She recalls an incident where a Bhat community member came on a Sunday (a holiday from field work) and asked for one of her trousers - he wanted pants like hers with all the many pockets. Renee also mentions that her vehicle was available for deliveries and other medical emergencies, and all the times she rushed such cases to the hospital in Yellapur. So, in this way, it was a symbiotic, mutualistic relationship between her and the people there. She also remembers them as being very protective of her. She had become a tourist attraction at her second field site at Bhimashankar in Pune District; this crazy single girl marching up and down the mountains, and the people made sure that neither she nor her work were disturbed. She was invited for all the functions in the village too. Now, three generations of field assistants have been working with her and her lab. The present generation says that their parents would scare them when they were kids saying the lady with the boots will come stomping and take you away (US Army surplus boots), and how she became the bogey-woman for kids when she was doing her PhD fieldwork. She agrees that ecologists need to talk about this bonding and integration with local people. Renee recalls another incident when she had finished her PhD and was back in Bombay. One day, out of the blue, her main field assistant at Bhimashankar and his family turned up at her door. He had developed oral cancer, and with her connections from her father’s work (as a cancer surgeon), she was able to get him treatment. He survived, went back to his village and campaigned against tobacco. That whole area is tobacco-free now due to this and he became an anti-tobacco champion. Renee remembers how she went back with a grant from the World Wildlife Fund to study the socioeconomics of the 9 villages within the boundaries of Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary. People used a lot of firewood as it gets very cold there. The then Divisional Commissioner of Pune sanctioned the first kerosene depot there, to reduce the fuel wood consumption. Now there is an LPG supplier. She remembers this work as being full of insights. The Mahadeo Kolis of Bhimashankar were originally hunter gatherers, and only grew some ambe mohur (a traditional rice variety), which takes 5 months to mature. They harvested food from the forest - crabs, mushrooms, ferns, honey, tubers. This gave her an opportunity to be privy to the ecosystem and how they were engaging with it.