Dr. Himali Upadhyay's Forensic Approach to Invasive Species

Recently, India got another reminder about the growing importance of the invasive species problem. According to The Indian Express , a population of the Giant African snails invaded horticultural fields in Andhra Pradesh, causing huge losses to farmers. The situation isn’t an isolated case: throughout the summer, experts have warned about aggressive plants overrunning forest edges and village commons in Punjab , as well as fall armyworm infestations of maize fields in Una . Sometimes, invasive species reproduce at rates ahead of what regular detection protocols can keep pace with, and this is where novel methods to detect and avert such infestations become crucial to Indian agriculture. The research is now led by Dr. Himali Upadhyay, who studied forensic science in India, and n