I finally completed my masters thesis on Orchid species richness along a Himalayan elevation gradient.
This all became possible due to help from number of people. I want to acknowledgement them all.
Below is the acknowledgement to all.
Numerous people have helped and encouraged me with their valuable suggestions during the course of this research work to whom I owe my sincere gratitude. First, I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Ole Reider Vetaas, for his constant support and encouragement. His ideas and the way of dealing with problems has always been a source of inspiration for me. He was always ready to listen my problems. He is the man who introduced me to the field of quantitative research and, of course, orchids.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my official supervisor Prof. John Birks for his inspiring supervision and suggestions. Whenever I met him, he used to say “I am looking forward to reading it”. That has always been a constant stimulation for me. Special thanks go to John-Arvid Grytnes and Christian Mong for their expert opinion during statistical analyses. I am thankful to all the members of the Ecological and Environmental Change Research Group (EECRG) for their cooperation. Their smiles while passing through the corridor of the department, made me feel at home. I would like to thank Cathy Jenks for her help in improving the language of the manuscript. All of my office-mates are highly acknowledged for their kind cooperation and discussions during my studies.
I am grateful to Jeffrey J. Wood and all the staff of Orchid Herbarium, Royal Botanical Garden, Kew for their help during my stay in Kew. Discussion with Jeffery J. Wood on orchids from Himalaya has been fruitful. I am thankful to La Duo for his help in fixing problems with orchids from Tibet.
Thanks also go to Prof Ram Prasad Chaudhary and Prof Hari Datta Lekhak, Central Department of Botany, Tribhuvan University, for their moral support.
I want to acknowledge my friends Maan B. Rokaya, Mani R. Shrestha and Shiva Devkota for their help in sourcing literature and sharing information on orchids from Nepal. Shiva was always there to find literature whenever I needed. I am thankful to Keshav Prasad Paudel for the map of the study area. All Nepali students in Bergen are highly acknowledged for sharing various moments during my stay in Bergen that always made me feel welcome.
I would like to acknowledge the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund (Lånekassen) for financial support and the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Bergen, for providing a study place and financial support during my visit to Nepal.
Last but not the least, I am very proud of my parents, sisters, brothers-in-law and brothers who constantly encouraged and supported me throughout my stay here in Bergen. I am thankful to my sister and brother-in-law for their help during my visit to Kew. My girlfriend was always there to share things with and she is eagerly awaiting my return back as soon as possible.
