National Centre for Earth Science Studies

About

Dr. Srikumar Chattopadhyay retired from CESS as Scientist G and Head, Resources Analysis Division. He obtained his M. Sc & Ph. D degree in Geography from the University of Calcutta and Post Graduate diploma in Applied Geomorphology and Environmental Survey from the International Institute of Aerospace Survey and Earth Sciences (ITC), The Netherlands. He was a Post-Doctoral Fulbright Fellow in the Environment and Policy Institute, East West Centre, Hawaii, USA. Recipient of Dr. S Vasudev award (1994) instituted by the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment, Government of Kerala, and Prof. R N Dubey memorial award (2001) instituted by the Boovigyan Vikas Foundation, New Delhi. After retirement from CESS in 2013 he was awarded Senior Fellow position by ICSSR hosted in the Centre for Development Studies (CDS), Thiruvananthapuram. In 2016, he served as a Fellow in the HWK Institute for Advanced Studies, Delmenhorst, Germany. He also worked as a Senior Consultant, Kerala Development Innovation Strategic Council (K-Disc), Government of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram.

Dr. Chattopadhyay’s work area covers natural and environmental resource management, terrain analysis, human dimension of environmental change, participatory local level planning, and sustainable development. He contributed substantially in evolving Participatory Panchayat Resource Mapping and River Bank Mapping programmes, which were widely acclaimed. He served as visiting faculty in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Montclair State University, New Jersey, USA; Leibnitz Centre for Tropical Marine Ecology (ZMT), Bremen, Germany and several other Indian Universities including Delhi, Calcutta, Mumbai, Burdwan, and Vidyasagar. He has produced more than 100 research papers, authored/ edited eight books, one Atlas and completed 40 research projects funded by the state, national and international agencies. He executed Tri-Academy (Chinese Science Academy, Indian National Science Academy and US National Science Foundation) collaborative project on Population pressure and land use change: Case studies from China, India and USA; Asian Development Bank’s multi country project on Integrated Coastal Zone Management and Poverty Alleviation; and the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka and Asia Pacific Network collaborative programme in South Asia on ‘Science policy integration for enhanced management of coastal systems’. He hosted Ph. D student from the University of Poiters, France under Indo French cultural exchange fellowship programme and collaborated with ZMT, Bremen, Germany and the Department of Geography, Lancaster University, UK for conducting joint projects, exchange visit and hosting MS students to conduct field studies and dissertation work. Several Ph. D and MS students from India and abroad completed their theses under his guidance. Dr. Chattopadhyay served in various committees, academic bodies and professional organizations both at the national and state level. He has now joined NCESS as ICSSR National Fellow for a period of two years.