Professor Purushothaman Chirkakkuzhyil Abhilash
Profession: Asscoiate Professor
Organization: Institute of Environment & Sustainable Development, Banaras Hindu University
Languages:
English
Technical field(s) of expertise: PC Abhilash is currently affiliated as an Associate Professor of Sustainability Science at the Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. He was the Founding Chair of the Agroecosystem Specialist Group (2016-2024) of the Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Switzerland. His research interest lies primarily in the area of exploring ecological solutions for sustainability and thereby achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs). Specifically, he is interested in the restoration of marginal and degraded lands for regaining ecosystem services and resilience, sustainable utilization of agro-biodiversity (i.e., lesser-utilized wild and neglected plants) for food and nutrition security, pollution in agricultural systems (pesticides and plastics), nature-based solutions, ecosystem-based adaptations for climate-resilient and planet-healthy food production, and urban ecology and complexity. He is also interested in policy research and realignment, sustainability analysis, sustainability indicators, circular economy principles, and localization of the UN-SDGs. He is the founding Editor-in-Chief of Anthropocene Science at Springer Nature and also serves on the editorial boards of leading journals in Ecology, Environment, and Sustainability at leading publishers like Wiley, Elsevier, and Springer Nature. He also visited Sao Paulo State University, Brazil; Beijing Normal University, China; and the University of Sharjah, UAE, as a visiting professor for short stints and taught courses for master's and PhD students. He has been selected as an Associate Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) and elected as a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India (FNASc), and the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (FNAAS). He also received other prestigious awards/recognitions like the INSA Medal for Young Scientist, the NASI-Platinum Jubilee Young Scientist Award, the ICAR-Lal Bahadur Shastri Young Scientist Award, the HIYOSHI Young Ecologist Award, selection as a Member of the National Academy of Sciences, India (MNASc), Associateship of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Founding Member of the Indian National Young Academy of Science (INYAS), constituted by INSA, and the Malviya Memorial Young Faculty Award of BRSI. He is also involved with various UN agencies (UN-IPBES, IRP-UNEP, UNDP-BES Network, IPCC, and UNCCD) and other international organizations such as APN, GLP, and IUCN Commissions (CEM, CEC, CEESP, and SSC) for fostering global sustainability.
