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Life Science in the Spotlight
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Uncovering Nature’s Secrets!
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Skardu proved to be the ideal living laboratory for the students and faculty of BIO 102. There were questions to be answered, discoveries to be made, and uncharted territories to explore. From field visits to lectures and lab sessions, students got the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the beauty and complexity of Life Science.
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One of the biggest undertakings was the collection of plant samples. Students and faculty were able to take full advantage of the biodiversity that Skardu had to offer during the field trips and collected over 200 samples from various sites including Deosai, Chunda Valley, and Sadpara village.
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People in Baltistan have unique traditions and relatively longer lifespans. To understand this indigenous community better, students also conducted surveys and interviewed more than 200 elderly Balti men and women. These interactions gave valuable insight into Balti communities, and also made for memorable conversations.
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It was an activity-filled month that required an endless supply of curiosity and dedication from the students, who proved to be up to the challenge at every step!
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“Every day there was something new to learn. I’ve gained so much from local students and faculty, and I’m taking back a lot of things that are new for me that I haven’t learnt in my 50 years of life.”
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Dr. Muhammad Tariq,
Associate Professor, LUMS
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“We don’t get an opportunity like this every day; to come teach in a place where there is so much biodiversity, so many unexplored regions. This prompted us to design the course in a way where we don’t just give the students theoretical knowledge, but also engage them in labs and field visits to practically show them what they learn in class.”
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Dr. Amir Faisal,
Associate Professor, LUMS
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“There is a lot of knowledge and wisdom hidden behind these mountains. Students and faculty interacted with the environment around them, picking up rocks, flowers, going in the water, seeing energy resources – observing it all and embracing this unique opportunity for learning.”
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Dr. Ishtiaq Hussain Mondoq,
Associate Professor, UoBS
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Here’s What Our Young Scientists have to Say
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“All of our projects were so rich in content. The field work that we did was simply amazing. When you see things in the field that you have only read about, it gives you a whole new perspective.”
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Gul Zahra Ali
BA-LL.B ’26, LUMS
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“It has been a great experience. During our classes and field trips, all of us collaborated and worked together. For example, for the surveys, we translated the responses from Balti to Urdu or English. We got to learn from LUMS students, and they got to learn from us.”
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Sajjad Hussain
BS ‘25, UoBS
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The Winning Poster and Postcards
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Each group was required to create a poster that showcased their learning. Here is the winning entry.
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How can we record our national treasures? Anas (LUMS), Zeeshan (LUMS), Fazeen (LUMS), Umer (LUMS), Rubab (UoBS), and Sajeel (UoBS), have taken the first step! Their team created a plant catalogue called ‘Wild Flowers of Baltistan’. This beautiful colour-coded booklet showcases all the different plants, along with their properties, that LUMSxUoBS Life Science students have collected throughout their month in Skardu.
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Students also designed postcards individually to highlight their experiences.
Here are the winning entries.
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Mohsin Hafeez (BSc ’24, LUMS) decided to depict his LUMSxUoBS experience through his learnings from the course. The threads represent chromosomes which unfold to reveal highlights from his journey: from collecting plants in Chunda Valley to visiting the Manthoka waterfall!
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In her postcard, Sumaira Batool (BS ’25, UoBS) wanted to pay tribute to the teachers who made the course so memorable. She explains, “I’ve learnt a lot in this month. We live here but had not seen so many plants nor had we identified them. That’s why I made a postcard to thank my teachers. Teachers are like flowers. Their love of teaching touches the heart of the students who then carry with them that sense of wonder wherever they may go.”
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Pictures of the Day
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Students collected Lichens during their field visits. These beautiful images show micro crystals from extracts of one of those Lichen samples as seen under a microscope during a BIO 102 lab session. Lichens are a living organism that grow on rocks in environments where there is no pollution.
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Bakshis (Thank You) for reading this issue of Stories from Skardu, an initiative by the Communications Team at the Office of Advancement.
Learn more about this journey by following us on
For feedback and suggestions,
email us at communications@lums.edu.pk
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