Tirthankar Ghosh

I am happy and excited to share that I have been selected as a Graduate Research Student under a joint Ph.D. program at two of the world's best universities - Indian Institute of Technology Bombay @iitbombay & Monash University @MonashUni, Australia #PhD #Ladakh #Glaciers

Retreat of Rhone #Glacier 2019-2025, and the surrender of artificial melt reduction. While over 50'000 m2 were covered with white blankets to prolong the life of a touristic ice cave, the glacier is now again left to itself. And obviously, the intervention did NOT save the ice.

Mer de Glace from Signal Forbes 1890 | 2013 | 2021 | 2024 Strong acceleration of the demise of the largest French glacier over last few years! 🧊🔥

An earthquake in a remote, uninhabited area? NISAR is on the case! On Dec. 6, 2025, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck near the Yukon-Alaska border, triggering hundreds of landslides and avalanches. @NASAJPL scientists are using NISAR imagery to study the quake’s impact.

We’re advertising a fully funded 4-year PhD position on modelling firn changes at the glacier scale within the SNF-funded deFIRN project, based at ETH Zurich & WSL. Apply here: jobs.ethz.ch/job/view/JOPG_…

Vergara Glacier (Cordillera Darwin) 1928 | 2024 This glacier has retreated 3 km over the last century, date on which it still reached the De Agostini fjord 🧊🌊 📷 1928: Gunther Plüschow (from 'Feuerland' vessel) 2024: Cristian Donoso (from kayak)

Seasonal dynamics of Earth’s glaciers and ice sheets | Science science.org/doi/abs/10.112…

A recent study (shared below) reminded me that 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐏𝐡𝐃 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧. Over the years, I have supervised 53 PhD students, and I can say with conviction that 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲 that works for all. Each student is different, and every PhD journey has its ups and downs. With some students, I spent a disproportionate amount of time helping them gain confidence. With stronger ones, my role was to 𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻. 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀. Unless a student gets genuinely interested in what he or she is doing, great work rarely happens. A good 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘀. I never restricted my students from seeking advice from other faculty. In fact, I always encouraged it and built a network they could freely approach. I also followed an 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻-𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆 - any student could walk into my office anytime for advice. I never had a lab of my own in any institution I worked at. Instead, I built common labs, shared by all, to promote collaboration and collective ownership. I have always believed that the 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗲𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗱. I have always taken 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗣𝗵𝗗 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗷𝗼𝗯 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗱𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. Since most of them worked on industry-supported projects, this was never a problem. Nearly 90% of my PhD students wrote their first peer-reviewed paper with me. Unlike in the US, where professors often get students with prior research experience, 𝗶𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝘄𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗿𝗮𝘄 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀. Faculty in Indian institutions (at least in the institutions where I worked so far - IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi and BITS Pilani) often put in far more time and effort per student than many of our counterparts abroad. The 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀. That makes everything worthwhile.

Gaisbergferner, Austrian Alps

It's the time of the year @glamos_ch measurements on around 20 Swiss #glaciers start. We've been on Rhone, Allalin, Corvatsch, ... these days. Not all as shiny white as here! Major losses also in 2025. Stay posted for the press release via @scnatCH on 1 Oct @VAW_glaciology

Very important study with critical data acquisition from high altitude glacial lakes

1/4 Truly fulfilling moment when the city administration acknowledges a product developed by our team: Our hyperlocal rainfall & flood early warning system, built at @ClimateIITB @iitbombay, supported @mybmc during the recent Mumbai rain: hindustantimes.com/cities/mumbai-… @htTweets

I just saw this post from @Canon_India featuring my photograph taken in Pangong Lake, Ladakh!

In a recent study, Prof. RAAJ Ramsankaran of IIT Bombay and his collaborators, Dr. Vasu Sathyakumar and Mr. Sridharan Gowtham of SASTRA Deemed University, have proposed a framework that uses remote sensing data and open-source digital tools to map forest connectivity at both the state and national levels. In addition to providing insights into how connected the forests are, the framework can also be used to analyse the impact of afforestation efforts, determine the resilience of different forest types to deforestation, and identify the states undergoing severe changes in forest cover. Accounting for fragmented forests is crucial for effective afforestation planning. Forest gain from 2015 to 2019 is in fragmented patches, reveals their study. iitb.ac.in/research-highl…

No State showed net increase in forest cover between 2015 and 2019, study reveals covered by @the_hindu Paper link: link.springer.com/article/10.100… thehindu.com/sci-tech/energ… #Forest #india #RemoteSensing #IITBombay

What an amazing video!! youtu.be/6DTQPE7pdn4?si…

🌊 #Bengaluru's lakes are shrinking! A 28-year satellite based study by Anugya Shukla, Eswar Rajasekaran & RAAJ Ramsankaran reveals a 64% loss in surface water bodies due to #urbanization & #climatechange Study: rdcu.be/etFgZ #SDGs #UrbanResilience #RemoteSensing

Call for IGS EGG Conference Grant July 2025. All interested researchers are invited to apply for Grant. Check our website to see the eligibility criteria: igsegg.org/egg-events/con… #grant #ecr #igs #conference #cryosphere

Few days back I got an opportunity to speak on a podcast on glaciers and how the world would look like if the climate is continuously warming up, and glaciers losing mass. Tried my best to communicate! #SciComm #Podcast #Himalayas #Glaciers #Climate youtu.be/AjE-vC0R1QE?si…