We received the shocking news that our TAD fellow Pushpalatha Sivasubramanian passed away on the evening of Wednesday 18 January. After visiting the Tamilnadu Agricultural University library for reference materials for her research work she suddenly had severe breathing problems (asthmatic) and was immediately admitted in a hospital. At the hospital she was diagnosed with a stroke on her right brain due to a blood clot and hence her left limbs have got paralysed. She has been shifted to the ICU of a hospital in Pondicherry where she was in a critical stage for a few days.
We all hoped for a quick recovery but she did not make it.
Pushpalatha started her PhD with the TAD Group in May 2010. She was one of six researchers in a WOTRO project on the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in India. Pushpalatha did a network analysis and technography of the interaction between consultants promoting SRI and changes in rice cultivation practices in farmers’ fields.
Our thoughts are with her husband, family and close relatives.
Cees Leeuwis, Communication Science
Harro Maat, Technology and Agrarian Development Group