About me
	Myself, Kottapalli Sreenivasa Rao, presently Professor in Department of Botany, University of Delhi was born on 3^rd July 1958 at Guntur, Andhra Pradesh.  I studied at various places (Montessori Convent, Vijayawada; Govt. Primary School, Duggirala; Convent, Bapatla; Government Upper Primary School, Narasaraopet; S.P.S. High School and J.K.C. College, Guntur) in Andhra Pradesh.  After completing graduation (B.Sc.) with a first division from Andhra University, Waltair (VRS & YRN College, Chirala) I joined Saurashtra University, Rajkot in 1979 to study Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Experimental Biology, an interdisciplinary masters’ degree course offered in the country at that time.  I completed my masters with first division, Grassland ecology as special paper with dissertation under the mentorship of Prof. S.C. Pandeya, and joined Prof. P.S. Ramakrishnan, one of the leading ecologists of the country, at North Eastern Hill University, Shillong. I was trained to become an inter-disciplinary researcher and worked on bamboo ecology in shifting agriculture affected areas of north east India. After obtaining my Ph.D. degree in 1987, I worked briefly (1987-1988) as Mulberry agronomist in Central Sericulture Research and Training Institute, Berhampur (West Bengal). I joined G. B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development an autonomous Institute of Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India in January 1989 and served the Institute in various capacities till May 2003. During this tenure at the Institute I worked in and lead an inter-disciplinary team of scientists on various aspects of sustainable development of fragile mountain ecosystems.  I have travelled extensively in the Himalaya during my field visits and collaborated with several international researchers on various facets of mountain development. After joining the University of Delhi, between May 2003 and August 2008 I have participated in teaching programmes of Department of Environmental Biology, School of Environmental Studies. Shifted to Department of Botany in May 2008 and continued to work and teach there.
	I am currently involved in academic work related to natural resource management and sustainable development in Himalaya and biodiversity assessment in critical ecosystems in hill and mountain regions.  So far I have supervised 15 Masters (M.S.), 3 M.Phil and 20 Ph.D. students for their degrees in various Universities and has published about 25 books and more than 150 research papers in both national and international scientific journals. My publications have more than 400 citations mostly during the last five years.  Besides being an active researcher I am also involved in application of participatory approaches for restoration of degraded lands using agroforestry and land rehabilitation techniques.
	I was a resource person for training local farmers on medicinal plant cultivation and delivered talks on All India Radio, Almora. I have participated and organized programmes for popularizing science and environment for school children and contributed to introduce students to the use of Geographical Information Systems for natural resource management. I am a member of various academic scientific societies such as National Academy of Sciences, Allahabad and elected as Fellow of National Institute of Ecology. I contributed to 'Phytomorphology' - An International Journal published by International Society of Plant Morphologists, Delhi and ‘The Botanica’ Magazine of Delhi University Botanical Society as Editor. I am currently looking after the editorial responsibilities of ‘Vegetos’ published by Springer and ‘International Journal of Ecology and Environmental Sciences’ journal of National Institute of Ecology.
	I was awarded ‘Vishisht Vaigyanik Puraskar’ on 16^th September 2005 by Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India for my extensive work on Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve.
	I was awarded ‘UGC National Swami Pranavananda Saraswati award for Ecology and Environmental Sciences for the year 2006’ in 2009-10 by University Grants Commission for my extensive work on Sustainable Development of Himalaya. I was awarded ‘Professor Gnanam Endowment Lecture Award – 2016’ by Madurai Kamraj University, Madurai. I am Fellow of National Institute of Ecology, International Society for Plant Morphologists, Andhra Pradesh Akademi of Sciences, Linnean Society of London and Indian Botanical Society.

Updated on 1^st April 2021.