Dr Rengalakshmi is a development researcher cum field-level practitioner in the agriculture and natural resource sectors. She works on technologies, institutions and policies in the science-society interface with the broader areas of sustainable livelihoods, gender and climate change.  

rengalakshmi@mssrf.res.in

Dr Oliver King is plant biologist currently serving as Director – Biodiversity at M S Swaminathan Research Foundation. He has over 25 years of participatory research and development project management experience in Agrobiodiversity, Natural Resource Management, Value Chains, Gender, and Sustainable Development. His research contributions are available here: http://mssrf.academia.edu/EDIsraelOliverKing.

oliverking@mssrf.res.in

Dr Prabavathy’s research is in the area of Rhizosphere Microbial diversity assessment, plant-microbe interaction, Identification of beneficial bacteria and developing formulations for promoting sustainable organic agriculture. She is a recognised Ph D supervisor with University of Madras, and six Ph D scholars received Doctoral degrees under her guidance. She has published ~35 peer reviewed research articles in national and international journals, and 20 book chapters. Dr Prabavathy is a recipient of several awards including the Rana Memorial Award from Association of Microbiologist of India, and the Best Women Scientist Award from National Academy of Biological Sciences, Chennai.

prabavathyvr@mssrf.res.in

Prof. T Jayaraman was with the School of Habitat Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, between 2008 and 2020 before joining MSSRF. He is a member of the Technical Advisory Committee, National Communications to the UNFCCC and the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEFCC), also a member of India’s delegation to several IPCC sessions and the Conference of Parties of UNFCCC. Previously, he was member of the Kerala State Planning Board, Government of Kerala. Dr Jayaraman’s work takes a transdisciplinary perspective, integrating socio-economic aspects based on social sciences along with natural science and technological aspects of climate change, and focusing on equity issues at the national and global scale.

jayaraman@mssrf.res.in

Mr Prajeesh is a Botanist with grassroots-level interdisciplinary work experience focusing on participatory biodiversity governance and management. His research interests are in conservation of plant genetic resources, farmers’ rights, and intellectual property rights. Mr Prajeesh has demonstrated capabilities in planning and implementing rural development programmes that link science to society.

prajeesh@mssrf.in

Mr Sivan is a Senior Scientist at the Wayanad centre of MSSRF. He is a Botany postgraduate interested in biodiversity conservation, particularly angiosperms. Experienced in inventorying, monitoring plant diversity in the Western Ghats, promoting medicinal plant conservation, and documenting People’s Biodiversity Register and School Biodiversity Register.

sivan@mssrf.res.in

Dr Archana holds a Masters in Agril Extension and Communication from GBPUA&T, Pantnagar, and a Ph D in Agril Extension from NDRI, Karnal. She was awarded a UGC fellowship for her doctoral degree. Her academic interests include qualitative social research and climate change studies. Dr Archana is currently engaged in conservation of traditional rice varieties and climate change studies.

archanab@mssrf.res.in

Dr Kartik Charan Lenka has a PhD in Botany, and works at BPTAbC, Jeypore, Odisha. His expertise is in plant taxonomy, development of genetic garden, documenting ethno-medicinal plants, preparation of Peoples’ Biodiversity Register, bio-input production, etc., for the last 16 years. Dr Lenka has published several research articles in national and international journals to his credit.

kartik.lenka@mssrf.res.in

Ms C S Dhanya is a scientist at CAbC, Wayanad. She has over 17 years of experience in implementing biodiversity conservation programmes primarily focusing RET plant species, traditional crop varieties and medicinal plant species in the Western Ghats, Kerala. She holds a Bachelor degree in Botany and a Masters in Plantation Development from University of Calicut.

csdhanya@mssrf.res.in

Dr Nithya D J is a Nutrition Scientist at MSSRF. She holds a PhD in Food Science and Nutrition from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, and has worked on the Farming System for Nutrition study under the LANSA project between 2013 and 2018. She oversaw the nutrition status assessment and food consumption surveys, while also coordinating the nutrition awareness component of the study. Currently she is involved with RKVY project in Odisha, engaged in proposal writing and as part of project evaluation team.

djnithya@mssrf.res.in

Mr Akshaya Kumar has a Bachelors in Botany from Utkal University and a Masters in Sustainable Development from Sikkim Manipal University, Gangtok. He is with MSSRF office Odisha since 2001 working in project management, community development, food and nutrition security, biodiversity conservation, natural resource management, sustainable agriculture, and participatory livelihood improvement in rural/ tribal areas of Odisha. Currently Mr Akshaya is a Development Coordinator at present, working exclusively on scaling-up Farming System for Nutrition and Agri-Nutri Garden initiative in Koraput district, Odisha.

akshay@mssrf.res.in

Mr Prasanta Kumar Parida is a Development Coordinator with the Biodiversity programme area at BPRAbC Jeypore and holds a Masters in Sociology. With over 21 years of experience in the field of research and development, he works on biodiversity conservation and sustainable utilisation, gender roles in conservation and development, millets and rice based farming system, bio-village programme, food based nutritional security, community institution building, and livelihood-based value-chain development.

prashantparida@mssrf.res.in

Adv. Jibin Thomas currently holds the position of Coordinator at the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), Kuttanad, Kerala. He has a diverse academic background, holding a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from Mahatma Gandhi University and a Master of Laws (LLM) from the Central University of Kerala. With extensive experience in managing the foundation’s activities and overseeing multiple projects at its Kuttanad field sites, he has been an integral part of the organization for many years.

His core areas of expertise encompass water governance, water literacy, water management, and environmental protection. He was a key contributor to MSSRF’s efforts to secure Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) recognition from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), showcasing his commitment to preserving agricultural and environmental heritage.

The professional journey began with a full-time role as Project Manager of the Indo-US Project (MSSRF-R4H), which focused on sustainable drinking water solutions, supported by Rainwater for Humanity (United States). Building on this experience, he successfully led the implementation of the “WAR FOR WATER” project, supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), as well as the HDFC Bank Parivartan CSR Project, both aimed at addressing critical water-related challenges in the Kuttanad region.

Currently, he is spearheading the SAARC SDF-LEAB project and his work extends beyond project coordination, as he actively contributes to initiatives in academic, research, policy advocacy, governance, innovation, entrepreneurship, and environmental conservation.

jibinthomas@mssrf.res.in

Mr Jeeva is with MSSRF since 1993, beginning at Puducherry Bio-village project and later associated with projects in Tamil Nadu and Odisha. He has vast experience in field research trials contributed to the Integrated Intensive Farming System (IIFS) model, and has published research articles.

jeevaji@mssrf.res.in

Mr Noushique is with MSSRF since 2015 contributing to the NABARD projects as a Development Associate. He is an Engineer, and worked as a Consulting Engineer for the drinking water project supported by Department of Science and Technology. His expertise includes planning, designing, costing, supervision and valuation. Noushique is currently associated with IWMS, KfW, WADI and watershed projects of NABARD at CAbC Wayanad.

noushique@mssrf.res.in

Dr Gayatri’s research examines salinity stress tolerance in crop species using molecular biology tools. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, India. During her two-decade stint at MSSRF, she has published more than 30 international research articles and is a registered guide with University of Madras. Three Ph D scholars received doctoral degrees under her guidance. Dr Gayatri has also mentored independent / project-associated postdoctoral fellows involved in national and international collaborations.

Dr.Sivan holds a Ph.D degree in Biotechnology from Bharathiar University and he was awarded CSIR-JRF with All India Ranking 089 for his doctoral research work. He is expertise in the area of abiotic stress biology and genome editing and trained in the overseas research laboratories in Israel (post-harvest fruit transcriptomics and metabolomics; ARO, Vulkani), Korea (Method for increasing efficiency of HDR-based gene editing; GNU, Jinju) and Japan (CRISPR-based functional reverse genetics in tomato; Iwate University), respectively. He is a co-inventor in two US patents based on the developed HDR methodology (US11542530B2, US20220049263A1). At MSSRF, his research focus on Genome editing of Rice and Oil crops for improved quality attributes using the CRISPR-CAS approach.

sivavelu@mssrf.res.in

Dr Jegan Sekar is a Scientist in the Microbiology lab, Biotechnology programme area at MSSRF. He holds a PhD in Biotechnology from University of Madras in agricultural microbial biotechnology. His core field of research is in soil-microbe-plant interaction, quorum sensing, core microbiome, taxonomy, development of bioinoculants, and conducting large-scale demonstrations field trials.

jegan.sekar@mssrf.res.in

Mr Goutham is a PhD candidate in Habitat Studies from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. He holds a B. Tech in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Calicut, and M.Sc. and M.Phil. in Climate Change and Sustainability Studies from the TISS, Mumbai. His research focuses on climate policy, climate equity and justice, climate change adaptation in agriculture, life cycle analysis, and climate finance and technology.

goutham@mssrf.res.in

Mr Peeyush Priya is currently involved in research and advocacy on climate change policy and various adaptation issues primarily around the theme of equity and common, but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC). He is also a PhD candidate in Habitat Studies from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. Peeyush holds a M. Phil in Habitat Studies and a Masters in Climate Change and Sustainability Studies, both from TISS Mumbai. He also has an engineering degree in Mechanical from Annamalai University.

peeyushpriya@mssrf.res.in

Dr Rajakumar is an Economist with a Ph D in Agricultural Economics. He has 30 years of experience in research and development field, and his experiences are in the ICT-based agriculture extension services. He is an expert in establishing and running of the community model of village resource and knowledge centres, and in building climate resilience among the smallholders.   

rajkumar@mssrf.res.in

Dr Gopinath is a Principal Scientist with MSSRF with a doctoral degree in Development Economics. He has more than 15 years of experience in research and development. His core areas of specialisation are food security and agrarian transformation. Dr Gopinath engages in research on rural transformation programmes, also monitoring and evaluation of government programmes, while being associated with action research projects on food and nutrition security with policy advocacy for upscaling.

gopi@mssrf.res.in

Dr B. Selvamukilan is a microbiologist with over 20 years of experience in biological input production. An expert in eco-friendly farming, he has managed projects on organic farming in plantation crops, eco-enterprises for improving rural livelihoods, promotion of rural plant doctors for eco-friendly crop management, and climate-resilient models in the Water Security and Climate Adaptation project. 

selvamukilan@mssrf.res.in

Dr. Pratheepa is a social scientist with over a decade of working experience in community development. She holds a post-graduate and doctoral degree in social work, and has worked with international and national projects. She works closely with farmers and fishers, also community-based organisations at micro level, and line departments at the meso and macro levels. Pratheepa has hands-on experience in designing and implementing various developmental programmes for community well-being and capacity building of community-based developmental organisations.

pratheepa@mssrf.res.in

Mr Nandeesa holds a Masters in Sociology, and has more than 20 years of experience in the development and fieldwork. He is with MSSRF since 2010, and has worked on watershed, sustainable livelihood, water security and climate adaptation projects, with experience in forming and strengthening community-based institutions. 

nandeesh@mssrf.res.in

Mr Seenivasan is a Botanist and organic farming specialist in South India with more than 10 years of experience. He joined MSSRF as Project Associate, and has rich experience in agricultural practices, Organic farming practices, Self-Help Group federation, development activities, and Farmer Producer Organisations.

seenivasan@mssrf.res.in

Ms Bhavani is with the Water Security and Climate Adaptation (WASCA) team for the last two years. Her postgraduate research focuses on ecosystem services, policy, and the state of two village tanks and small hillocks. She is interested in specialising on the impact of climate change, particularly on rivers, streams, and small water systems. 

bhavani.s@mssrf.res.in

Mr Kumaragurbaran holds a MTech in Remote Sensing and started his career with MSSRF as a GIS Analyst under the WASCA project based in Ramanathapuram District. He is now Associate Scientist, specialising in GIS Softwares (ARCGIS, ENVI, Google earth, SNAP, Photomod and Auto Cadd).

kumaragurubaran@mssrf.res.in

Mr Rabindra has a Masters in Social work (MSW) and is coordinator for the Odisha Resilience project at MSSRF. He has 20 years of experience liaising with social and government sector offices, community mobilisation, capacity building FPO members, among other grassroots-level implementation activities.

 rabindrabehera@mssrf.res.in

Mr G. Sudhakar has a post-graduate degree in agriculture specialising in agricultural extension. He has over ten years of experience in research and development, and his area of expertise includes agricultural extension activities and usage of ICT tools. He also serves as a plant doctor and provides recommendations to farmers that helps reduce yield loss.   

sudhakar@mssrf.res.in

Mr C V Parthsarathy, is a post graduate in Economics, and has a Learned Higher Diploma in Software Engineering from M/s. APTECH Computer Education. He was Executive Secretary to the Executive Director of MSSRF from August 1999 to March 2021, before taking on the role of Manager (Administration) at MSSRF.

partha@mssrf.res.in