Students From India Spend Fall Semester Studying Slime Molds

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Steve Stephenson, center, with Shoolini University students, Nazrana Payal, left, and Gurpreet Kaur.

Gurpreet Kaur and Nazrana Payal, two graduate students from Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences, are spending the fall semester at the University of Arkansas, where they are carrying out research on myxomycetes (also called slime molds) with Steve Stephenson, a research professor in the Department of Biological Sciences.

Shoolini University, located near the city of Solan in the Himalayan foothills of northwestern India, is one of the leading private universities in the entire country. Gurpreet, who is from Patiala in Punjab, is working towards a master of science degree in biotechnology at Shoolini. Nazrana, who is from the city of Jammu in Jammu and Kashmir, is working towards a master of technology degree in biotechnology.

The students are working on two research projects. The first involves studying the effects of a major forest fire, which took place in a portion of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, on the occurrence of the myxomycetes associated with decaying wood and forest floor litter. The second involves documenting the myxomycetes associated with various types of dead plant material found in an area of desert in central Australia.

Stephenson, an expert on myxomycetes who has traveled to all seven continents to study these organisms and published a comprehensive guidebook on the topic, visited Shoolini University in the spring of 2017 on a Fulbright Specialist Award. The university has signed a memorandum of understanding with the University of Arkansas to further cooperative research.