Indian-origin Dr. Kamaljit Bawa elected to US National Academy of Sciences

New York: Dr. Kamaljit S. Bawa, a noted, Indian-born, conservation biologist and President of the India-based Ashoka Trust for Research and Ecology and Environment (ATREE) has been elected to the US National Academy of Sciences. Election to the 170-year-old Academy is a recognition of the significant contributions to science by its members, ATREE said in a press release. Bawa is also an elected fellow of the Royal Society (London) and the American Philosophical Society. 

“The election is the reaffirmation of our important work on the ecology, conservation, and management of tropical forests that are declining all over the world but are critical to humanity’s well-being,” said Bawa. 

Biodiversity in tropical forests and other natural habitats is an important source of many ecosystem services and for the mitigation of climate change. ATREE, founded by Bawa is well recognized for its work on assessing and managing biodiversity, climate change, and water. 

A Distinguished Professor of Biology at the University of Massachusetts Boston, Bawa has done extensive work in the Himalayas for a number of years on a wide range of issues from biodiversity conservation to climate change. 

A few years ago, Dr. Bawa brought together scientists from India’s leading institutions to develop the National Mission on Biodiversity and Human Wellbeing under the banner of the Biodiversity Collaborative. 

The effort was supported by the office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India and is currently funded by the Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies.

Bawa has published more than 200 papers and has authored or edited more than 10 books, and special issues of journals. His latest coffee table book Himalaya: The Mountains of Life, a companion volume to Sahyadri: India’s Western Ghats, was published in 2013.

 

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