nservation through research, education and public participation' Trustees of Sálim Ali Foundation
Professor M. K. Prasad
Professor M. K. Prasad, an educator and environmental activist, retired as the pro-Vice-Chancellor of Calicut University after serving the Collegiate Education Department in various capacities, as Lecturer, Professor, Principal and Deputy Director. He was the former president of the Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad, an organisation working at the grass-roots level towards the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. He spearheaded the historical Silent Valley movement in 1978, and was primarily responsible for saving this fragile rainforest ecosystem. He served as a member of the Board of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, a project initiated by the United Nations with an objective to assess the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being. Prof. Prasad is a life member of Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad, WWF-I, IUCN-CEC, BNHS, CSE and Green peace-India. He is currently Executive Chairman and Director of the Kerala Information Mission. His broad interests lie in the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources, and his work involves framing and overseeing policies pertaining to the same on a national and international scale.
He resides in Ernakulam and can be contacted by e-mail
Dr. V. S. Vijayan, a student of the late Sálim Ali has worked extensively on birds, forest and wetland ecosystems, and conservation issues in India both at the field and policy level. He began his professional career as a Scientist with Kerala Forest Research Institute, where he played a key role in the Silent Valley movement. Later, he spent 10 years with the Bombay Natural History Society where he led a multidisciplinary team to study the complex wetland ecosystem of Bharathpur National Park. He later founded and served as the Director of the Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Anaikatty, Coimbatore for 14 years. Through his career he has guided several students to work on ornithology and wetland conservation. His interests lie predominantly in wetland ecology, sustainable use of resources, ornithology, education and public awareness building, and bridging the gap between field realities and environmental/ conservation policies at a national level.
He currently resides in Coimbatore and can be contacted by e-mail
Dr. N. P. Balakrishnan
Dr. N. P. Balakrishnan was Joint Director Botanical Survey of India. He has made extensive botanical explorations and collection of specimens from various forest areas of Peninsular India, Central India, Assam, Meghalaya, Bhutan, and Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Throughout his career he has made significant contributions in the Plant Taxonomy with over 10,000 botanical collections in various herbaria. His research work in Plant Taxonomy resulted in 185 scientific articles, 5 books and he also edited Volumes 1 & 2 of Flora of India. His lifelong work on the family Euphorbiaceae of India is being published as monograph of the family for India and he has been conferred the Prof. Tiyagi Gold Medal in recognition of his lifetime achievements by Indian Association of Angiosperm Taxonomy. He discovered and established 2 new genera, 72 new species and several new varieties. Various workers have honoured him by naming 12 species of plants after him.
He resides in Coimbatore and can be contacted by e-mail
Dr. K. P. S. Chauhan
Dr. K.P. S. Chauhan, an independent researcher and consultant in the sphere of environmental sciences and the conservation and management of natural resources, has over 35 years of varied experience at the field, programme and policy levels. He trained as a botanist, specializing in Himalayan ecology. As Additional Director in the Ministry of Environment and Forests (Govt. of India), he was responsible for the planning and management of Biosphere Reserves, National Botanic Gardens, the Centre of Excellence in Ethnobiology and the World Heritage Sites, coordinating with international organizations such as UNESCO, UNEP, UNDP, and IUCN. He has been Member of the Steering Committee for Biodiversity Conservation Programmes, WWF (India), and was one of the founders of the Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi, also serving on its Executive Board. He is an honorary Senior Fellow, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, a Fellow of the Indian Society of Seed Technology and a Life Member of the Indian Society of Plant Genetic Resources.
He resides in Bangalore and can be contacted by e-mail
Contact us
Sálim Ali Foundation
The Nest, # 5, BSA Nagar
Bharathiar University P.O.
Coimbatore 641 046
India
Telephone : 91-422-2426231
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