Shifting Terrains: Glacial Debris and Flow

Having travelled and hiked extensively in the Indian Himalayas, Madhura Vaze (MLA '24) witnessed the changes in glacier melting patterns due to climate change and the substantial impacts of flow and debris cover on mountainous communities. Often called "The Third Pole of the World," the constant flux within the disappearance of Himalayan glaciers has affected mountainous infrastructural systems, community values, ecology, histories, and social constructs through continuous processes of glacial erosion and deposition.

For the 2024 Howland Traveling Fellowship, Vaze travelled to the Garhwal Himalayan region in India to document debris cover and flow in Mandakini and Alakananda River (tributaries of the Ganges River) watershed basins. This exhibition showcases fieldwork and research in the world of glacial-fluvial landscapes by thinking about climate change vertically.

Supported by the Benjamin C. Howland Memorial Endowment.