Dr. Pratap Bhattacharyya is currently working as ICAR-National Fellow and Principal Scientist at ICAR-National Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, Odisha, India. He obtained B. Sc. (Ag.) from BCKVV, West Bengal, and subsequently, completed M.Sc. and Ph.D. (Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry) from IARI, New Delhi. He started his career as Scientist in 2001 at IISWC, RC, Chandigarh. His fields of specialization are climate change, climate smart rice production, soil fertility and microbiology, soil and water conservation. Dr Pratap extensively worked on natural resource management, particularly climate change aspect on rice, climate resilient and climate smart rice cultivation in lowland rice, soil conservation, watershed management, nutrient and carbon management, and resource conservation technologies in rice. Dr Pratap has given a unique concept that lowland rice ecology is a net carbon sink by using advanced eddy covariance techniques. He also identified the acetoclasticand serine pathways are the predominate ones in methanogenesis and methanotrophy, respectively in lowland rice ecologies by using whole genome metagenomic approach. Dr Bhattacharyya is ICAR-National Fellow; Fellow of National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, India (FNAAS); Fellow of IASWC; got ICAR-LBS young scientist award; Dr K J Tejwani award on NRM by IASWC; Mosaic Foundation young scientist award on plant nutrition; Certificate of Excellence on Eddy covariance techniques by University of Georgia, USA. Dr Pratap has published more than 150 research articles included research papers, books, book chapters, and popular articles. He has guided 5 PhD and 8 MSc students. He served as associated editor for the Journal of Indian Society of Soil Science”.
Dr Himanshu Pathak is currently the Director, ICAR-National Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, Odisha, India. He Obtained BSc (Ag) from Banaras H University, Varanasi, India; and MSc and PhD in SoilScience and Agricultural Chemistry from Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, India. His research areas include soil science, climate change and environmental pollution. He Joined as Director of ICAR-National Rice Research Institute (NRRI), Cuttack, Odisha on August 1, 2016. Earlier he served as Principal Scientist, Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi (2009-16); Professor, Discipline of Environmental Sciences, IARI (2013-16); He also worked as a visiting scientist in University of Essex, United Kingdom; IRRI, Philippines; CSIRO Land and Water, Australia and Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Germany. He is Fellow of Indian National Science Academy; National Academy of Sciences, India; National Academy of Agricultural Sciences and West Bengal Academy of Science and Technology. He is the recipient of the Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship of Germany; Silver Jubilee Commemoration Medal of INSA; Golden Jubilee Commemoration Young Scientist Award of the Indian Society of Soil Science; BOYSCAST Fellowship of Department of Science and Technology (DST); Young Scientist Award, Dr. BC Deb Memorial Award, Prof. SK Mukherjee Commemoration Award and Platinum Jubilee Award Lecture by Indian Science Congress Association(ISCA) and Recognition Award of NAAS. He was the Lead Author of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 5th Assessment Report. He is also the Lead Author of IPCC for updating GHG inventory. Dr. Pathak was the Coordinator for United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Dept. of Research and Education (DARE), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Govt. of India and received IRRI, Philippines Outstanding Administrative Support Award. Currently, he is the President of Association of Rice Research Workers, Cuttack, Odisha and Executive President of Society for Conservation of Nature, New Delhi. He published more than 170 research papers, 30 review papers, 25popular articles, 13 books, 15 technical bulletins and 75 book chapters.
Dr Sharmistha Pal is working as Scientist in Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)- Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Research Centre, Chandigarh, India till 2008. Her fields of specialization are Soil science, soil chemistry, fertility and microbiology. She obtained B. Sc. (Agriculture) from Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswa Vidyalaya, West Bengal, India; M.Sc and Ph.D from Division of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India. Specifically, she worked on aluminum–organic acids interaction in rice rhizosphere in acid soil; iron dynamics under aerobic rice as influenced by its sources and methods of application; soil carbon sequestration, soil and water conservation. She got U.K. Commonwealth Fellowship (2007) during PhD program for carrying out research at the University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom; Dr. S. P. Raychaudhuri Gold Medal
