August 27, 2006

PROFESSOR Dr Quddusi B. Kazmi’s name is not unknown to those active in the field of life sciences. The director of Marine Reference Collection and Resource Centre (MRCRC) at the University of Karachi has authored 14 books spanning various areas of Pakistan’s marine biodiversity and is presently in the process of writing her 15th book an inventory of Pakistan’s marine fauna in collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

The interior decor at her spacious office at the MRCRC speaks volumes about her devotion to her field of work, and one observes an array of fauna specimen lining the wooden shelves as well as real-looking gizmos sitting on her desk top. Elegantly clad in a simple cotton shalwar kameez, she presently starts talking in gentle tones about why she chose to enter the field of taxonomical sciences in the first place. “The Arabian Sea had always fascinated me because of its vast biodiversity. It is virgin territory as far as taxonomical exploration is concerned and the only information we have about the area dates pack to the pre-Partition times. Pakistan is a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), 1994, and the current Biodiversity Action Plan of Pakistan (BAP) is a first attempt to meet the planning requirements of the convention. Despite this, there was a huge gap in marine biodiversity knowledge. I decided to deal with this matter by training in the field of taxonomy as a marine biologist.”

As a matter of fact, her first book Shore And Offshore Penaeid Prawns of Northern Arabian Sea published in 1973, was based on her Master’s thesis. And contrary to the common notion that a writer’s first book alone is his best work, Dr Kazmi feels that with every book she contributes more information to local academic and industrial circles.

“In the field of life sciences, the more you know and learn about a subject, the more you mature in the depth of your understanding. People in my field don’t have to deal with the problem of ‘turning stale’ because our work is not fiction. Gaining knowledge in this field only results in revisions and editions of a book. The work only grows better; it can never deteriorate in quality or content.”

Her works have been made a part of the academic curricula in zoological sciences, worth mentioning among which are A Hand Book on a Pakistani Mantis Shrimp ‘Oratosquilla’, as well as A Hand Book on Pakistan Common Swimming Crab ‘Portunus’, that are extensively used while teaching young zoologists the art of dissection and anatomy. When asked whether academic writing came about naturally or was it a leap into turbulent waters, she replies with all the glibness of a pro that it wasn’t a paradigm shift at all. “Some of the academic books were incorporated much later after I had written them, while others I wrote keeping my target market in mind. My work is so specialised that the information it contains is almost thematic, and so, adapting a book according to what students require isn’t such a big problem.” The hand books are specialised and pertain to marine fauna, their anatomy, habitat, history and export value among other things. But what makes these books singular is that they are the first in their category to have been penned by a Pakistani scientist. The comprehensive and reader-friendly contents have been translated into the Urdu language as well and are taught in local colleges.

Hovering over the issue of the usefulness of her work among local industrial circles, Dr Quddusi strikes a more profound chord: “Biodiversity is crucial to the survival of human beings, and the foundation of applied research always needs a platform to build upon. As far as industry per se is concerned, the work I do both as a scientist and as an author — probably does not link up directly there, but it is the foundation upon which all applied research takes place. This in turn links up to industrial progress. In Pakistan, the main related industries are those of fisheries and aqua culture, and we contribute greatly to the country’s foreign exchange through these fields.”

Working in collaboration with foreign scientists and editors came as a natural part of being an author of books on life sciences. For instance her book about the common swimming crab incorporated extensive material provided by Dr Charlotte L. Sazama of the World Data Centre of Oceanography, Maryland, USA. Besides, frequent professional visits across borders including Taiwan, Kuwait, Singapore, Bangladesh, UK and India have resulted in diverse exposure and the development of a profound insight into collaborative work.

Reminiscing the experience, she comments, “Researchers around the world have always been interested in the Arabian Sea because of its sheer uniqueness. Fortunately for us, the British who ruled this land before Partition were naturalists. In Pakistan, however, we have always been short of latest literature and professional expertise in this field. Until the internet age, we never had foreign publications available and to cater to this knowledge gap, we got in touch with various foreign entities who were giants in their fields. Thankfully, they turned out to be highly cooperative and started sending in their publications; this eventually led us to where we are today.” The turn of events after 9/11 however has come across as a disappointing shock and she sadly admits that response has faltered.

But the need for information is doubtlessly without bounds and her written works — including over 80 research papers — are constantly in demand by students and conservation forums alike, including the WWF.

According to Dr Quddusi, it is this never-ending need for knowledge that keeps her going. “The last decade was the decade of biodiversity and the field of life sciences was extremely active around the world. Sadly, there was almost nil research input from Pakistan, and today, I am trying to fill this gap through the book I am presently working on.” The book, an inventory of Pakistan’s marine fauna, is being sponsored by the WWF, and it spans a period of over 100 exploratory years. She gleefully states that the manuscript is ready and she is eagerly awaiting further proceedings to take place.

Her years of research, writing and editing have not gone by unrewarded. Among her list of credits are such distinguished titles as Leading Scientists of the World Award 2005 of the International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, England; Zoologist of the Year Award 2003 of the Zoological Society of Pakistan; Gold Medal for Best Scientist of the Year in Biology of the Scientific and Cultural Society of Pakistan 1997; as well as numerous paper reviews and best paper awards. She maintains that such platforms are necessary to encourage scientific authors to come forward and contribute to Pakistan’s scientific literature. “Platforms in Pakistan do exist but not to a great extent. Lately, universities as well as the Higher Education Commission (HEC) have started declaring such awards. Even the National Book Foundation has been working along these lines; but there is still a need for more acknowledgement and encouragement.”

She justifies her belief with the fact that the field of marine research is such that a very limited number of people can actually evaluate the related literary works. “Our papers and written work are not approachable to a very large number of people. They are not circulated to all universities and the majority of people in the field of science are unaware of our work. These subjects are usually only studied along coastal regions and in Pakistan, marine biology is only taught in Karachi. No one else can evaluate it. So to bring out quality literary products from such a limited number of active professionals is difficult and greater efforts are required. Nevertheless, good work should always be acknowledged and rewarded.”

She gives the example of the award she received from Cambridge. “It came as a total surprise. They evaluated my paper and approached me themselves. The entire procedure was online and long distance, but it did happen. My efforts were not ignored. That is really encouraging.”

Presently, Dr Quddusi is also the chief editor of the Pakistan Journal of Marine Sciences, the first of its kind to be internationally recognised and approved by HEC since 2000. Embarking upon a unique venture is always difficult, she admits, and the journal needed a lot of initial work to shape up into what it is today. “It was difficult because it needed to attract good foreign writers, and in order to do that, it needed to be revamped completely. Besides, as with scientific journals, peer reviews were required from abroad and this in itself was no mean feat.”

One turns to the publication of her books and how she has been managing to do that while juggling a directorial and editorial position at the same time. Fortunately for the time being, her books are being published by the University of Karachi. “The prime advantage is that the press is cheaper and it is easier to check the manuscript. Besides, one can follow the layout of the publication at every step a flexibility that is unavailable when approaching other publishing houses.” The downside, of course, is that readership gets limited, but in her field of taxonomical work, a niche market is expected because the literature itself is so highly specialised.

Seeking publishing houses outside does garner a wider readership though, but “Approaching them takes money, and that is something that I as a scientist and a teacher cannot afford. The HEC has started some form of funding for printing abroad and I can only hope for such funds to increase gradually. As it is, books in this field are bound to contain coloured content out of sheer need, and this inherently raises the prices up a notch.” She points out a need for greater funding for scientific authors — a need that remains unfulfilled till today.

But authoring books while working as a full-time director in her core field must be coming with its perks. Surprisingly, Dr Quddusi sheds light on some infrastructural issues: “I do get logistical support and assistance, but unfortunately, the University provides no administrative help. I end up getting trapped in running trifle errands ranging from getting water taps fixed to making trivial phone calls, besides acting as a director and editor and working with six research students at the same time. As a result, my writing suffers.”

Division of time and attention is her prime cause of concern something that all research scientists and writers, perhaps, are concerned about. As for the need for a solution, she elaborates, “Alas for research writers, we only have two official categories of staff: the teaching and non teaching. My research staff has to face a dilemma since it doesn’t fall into either category, and so they are left with no platform to voice their concerns. We try to do so much under our circumstances but we can only do as much. We are academicians, writers, PhDs and researchers; these infrastructural necessities should be provided to prevent further literary erosion.”

Despite all these concerns chasing her day in and day out, Dr Quddusi has no regrets in choosing her career and she keeps on writing to strengthen the field of taxonomy in Pakistan. “The science of taxonomy is underrated here, and there is a dearth of taxonomists. Recently, this science has gained greater recognition, but Pakistan is still looked down upon as a ‘follower’. I am working to get rid of this blemish on Pakistan’s name. There can be no tree without a root and my writing is proof of the fact that taxonomy is a very real and needed field that forms the basis of all applied work.”

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