Advanced Geospatial and Ground Based Techniques in Forest Monitoring

Dr. Pavan Kumar is a Faculty of College of Horticulture and Forestry, Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University, Jhansi, U.P., India. He obtained his Ph.D. degrees from Faculty of Natural Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. He did B.Sc. (Botany) and M.Sc.  (Environmental Science) from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India and subsequently obtained Master’s degree in Remote Sensing (M. Tech) from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra Ranchi, India. His current research interests include resilient agriculture and Climate Change studies. He is recipient of Innovation China National academy award for Remote Sensing. Dr. Kumar has published fifty research papers in international journals and authored several books. He has visited countries like USA, France, the Netherlands, Italy, China, Indonesia, Brazil and Malaysia for various academic/scientific assignments, workshop, and conferences. Dr. Kumar is member of International Associations for Vegetation Science, USA and Institution of Geospatial and Remote Sensing, Malaysia.

Dr. Prashant Kumar Srivastava Prashant is working at IESD, Banaras Hindu University as a faculty and affiliated with Hydrological Sciences, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center as visiting scientist on SMAP satellite soil moisture retrieval algorithm development, instrumentation and simulation for various applications. He received his PhD degree from Department of Civil Engineering, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK. Prashant was the recipient of several awards such as NASA Fellowship; USA; University of Maryland Fellowship, USA; Commonwealth Fellowship, U.K.; Early Career Research Award (ECRA, DST, India), CSIR as well as UGC– JRF-NET (2005, 2006). He is leading number of projects funded from reputed agencies in India as well as world. He is also a collaborator with NASA JPL on SMAP soil moisture calibration and validation as well as Scatsat-1, NISAR, AVIRIS-NG missions of India. Prashant made 180+ publications in peer-reviewed journals and published 9 books with reputed publishing house such as Springer, Taylor and Francis, AGU-Wiley and Elsevier

Dr. Mohamed Latif Khan is a Professor of Forestry and Coordinator of Scientific & Industrial Research Cell and also Deputy Coordinator of Bioinformatics Centre at North Eastern Regional Institute of Science & Technology (Deemed University), NIRJULI, Arunachal Pradesh. He is a plant ecologist and conservation biologist, obtained his doctoral degree from North Eastern Hill University, Shillong, India. His research interests have gradually expanded from tree regeneration to the fields of biodiversity conservation and eco-restoration. Dr. Khan is presently engaged in the studies on conservation and regeneration of endangered and medicinal plant species, inventory and analyses of biodiversity of sacred groves, exploration of germplasm of bamboo and cane species. Dr. Khan is also trained to study the phylogeny and genetic diversity of plant species. He has also been trained at Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehra Dun for the application of remote sensing and GIS in biodiversity conservation. He also has research collaboration with Concordia University, Canada, Grand valley State University and Kansas University, USA. Through his research program, he has supervised twenty five undergraduate, five graduate and ten Ph. D. theses and currently he is supervising eight Ph.D. theses. He has contributed 103 peer-reviewed papers and 33 conference papers, invited presentations, and lectures. One book has also been co-edited by him. Dr. Khan is a recipient of prestigious Nanda Memorial Young Scientist Medal from the Indian Society for Tree Scientists for his outstanding research in the field of Forest Ecology and Biodiversity Conservation. He is a recipient of DST-BOYSCAST and DBT-Overseas fellowships in thrust area ‘Biodiversity Conservation’ and worked as visiting faculty at University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA, and Concordia University, Montreal, Canada.

Dr. Ayyanadar Arunachalam is a Director, ICAR-Central Agroforestry Research Institute, Jhansi 284003, Uttar Pradesh, 2020 to date. Adjunct Positions - PG Faculty in Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi; Adjunct Professor in Navsari Agricultural University, Gujarat; Honorary Professor, Amity University, Noida; Visiting Professor at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore; Adjunct Professor, Doon University, Deha Dun; Visiting Professor at Arunachal University of Studies; Adjunct Professor, Karunya University, Coimbatore; Graduate Faculty, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, USA.

Dr. Parth Sarathi Roy is a Senior Fellow with the Sustainable Landscapes and Restoration program at World Resources Institute, India. He moved into this position after completing his tenure with International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-arid Tropics (ICRISAT) as a Senior Advisor and National Academy of Sciences India (NASI) Platinum Jubilee Fellow. Post superannuation, he joined the Centre for Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Hyderabad as a Chair Professor for six years and continues to be a Visiting Fellow staying true to his purpose of imparting knowledge. Dr. Roy is an Earth Observation and Spatial Ecology expert who has pioneered generation of information on natural resources and services using Earth Observation Systems for both India and global programs, inspiring many young scientists of this era. With a career spanning over 43 years, Dr. Roy served the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for 35 years and retired as the Director of Indian Institute of Remote Sensing and Director of Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in Asia and the Pacific (CESSTEP – United Nations). His contributions have been instrumental in shaping national policies in the field of forestry, biodiversity, conservation science and landscape ecology.