Mr. Rana Pal, Ph.D. Scholar of the Department of Mathematics, IIEST Shibpur, received the First Prize along with the prestigious “RLB (Ratanlal Brahmachary) Memorial Young Scientist Award – 2026” at the International Conference-9th India Biodiversity Meet (IBM 2026), held during February 2–4, 2026, at the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata.

He was awarded this prize for presenting his work entitled “Climate, Livelihoods, and Psychological Stress in a Biodiversity Hotspot Indian Sundarban: Insights from Mathematical Epidemiology” in the Students’ Paper Contest. His work integrates advanced mathematical modelling with environmental, socio-economical and public health insights, contributing significantly to interdisciplinary research on climatic hazards critical for sustaining community livelihoods affecting the mental health of the people of Sundarban. The study is grounded in structured, survey-based primary data collected from vulnerable communities of Sundarban, and validated within the proposed mathematical framework using machine learning tool.

Congratulation to Mr. Pal on this achievement.