| PEOPLE |
|||
 |
 |
||
|
Prof. M.S. Swaminathan, Chairman Professor M S Swaminathan has been acclaimed by the TIME magazine as one of the twenty most influential Asians of the 20th century and one of the only three from India, the other two being Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore. He has been described by the United Nations Environment Programme as “the Father of Economic Ecology” and by Javier Perez de Cuellar, Secretary General of the United Nations, as “a living legend who will go into the annals of history as a world scientist of rare distinction”. He was Chairman of the UN Science Advisory Committee set up in 1980 to take follow-up action on the Vienna Plan of Action. He has also served as Independent Chairman of the FAO Council and President of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. More ...
A plant geneticist by training, Professor Swaminathan’s contributions to the agricultural renaissance of India have led to his being widely referred to as the scientific leader of the green revolution movement. His advocacy of sustainable agriculture leading to an ever-green revolution makes him an acknowledged world leader in the field of sustainable food security. The International Association of Women and Development conferred on him the first international award for significant contributions to promoting the knowledge, skill, and technological empowerment of women in agriculture and for his pioneering role in mainstreaming gender considerations in agriculture and rural development. Professor Swaminathan was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership in 1971, the Albert Einstein World Science Award in 1986, and the first World Food Prize in 1987. Professor Swaminathan is a Fellow of many of the leading scientific academies of India and the world, including the Royal Society of London and the U S National Academy of Sciences. He has received 58 honorary doctorate degrees from universities around the world. He currently holds the UNESCO Chair in Ecotechnology at the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation in Chennai (Madras), India Board of Trustees
Prof. M.S. Swaminathan Mr. N. Ram Dr. Suman Sahai Dr. Madhura Swaminathan Mr. V. Namasivayam Mr. Vijay Mahajan Dr. Tushaar Shah Ms. Rita Sarin Mr. K. Rajiv Dr. Uma Lele |
Dr Ajay K Parida, Executive Director A cytogenetist and molecular biologist by training has a Ph.D. degree from University of Delhi. He joined M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation in 1993 as a senior scientist and subsequently worked as Principal Scientist and Director of the Biotechnology Programme. More ....
Dr. Parida and his group has made outstanding contribution in the area of Coastal Ecosystem management through integrated use of traditional and modern biotechnologies and has successfully utilized molecular marker systems in mangrove species in understanding species relationship, developing unambiguous species identification systems, depicting population genetic structure and evolving site-specific conservation strategies. His work on genetic indexing of wild relatives and land races of cultivated legumes, millet species and Rice has contributed to the understanding of genetic structure of the species/ populations. His ongoing work on identification, characterization and transfer of novel genetic combinations from mangroves has resulted in isolation of a number of genes for abiotic stress tolerance from Avicennia marina. Large scale sequencing of ESTs has been undertaken from Avicennia marina, Porteresia coarctata and Prosopis juliflora. Transformation and Transgenic systems in Brassica, Vigna and Rice incorporating some of the isolated genes are in different stages of development. This work has far reaching implications in developing location specific crop varieties offering resistance/ tolerance to coastal salinity Dr. Parida has guided/ guiding over Twenty Ph. D. students and published over 60 peer reviewed research papers, many in books and conferences and seminar proceedings. Dr. Parida has played major role in organization of several multistakeholder dialogues in the area of biotechnology application, dissemination and biosafety issues. He has served on the National Biosafety Regulatory Committee and currently a member of advisory board of the BINAS Biosafety Network of the UNIDO. Dr. Parida is Elected Fellow of the National Academy of Agriculture Sciences (NAAS) and National Academy of Sciences of India (NASI). He is a recipient of Prof. Umakant Sinha Memorial Award of the Indian Science Congress, B. M. Birla Prize of the Birla Science Foundation and National Biosciences Award of the Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India. Dr. Parida serves on many committees of the Govt. of India, and much international organization. Programme Directors PA100: Coastal Systems Research MSSRF Staff Members List (click here) |