About Dr.B.Meenakumari
Dr. B. Meenakumari is former Chairperson of National Biodiversity Authority. She was Deputy Director General (Fisheries) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi prior to joining NBA. She is the first women scientist to occupy this prestigious position as DDG in ICAR. Earlier to this, Dr. Meenakumari, who has more than 38 years of service in ICAR, was the Director of Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT), Cochin. She is basically a marine biologist and a renowned scientist in the field of fisheries, fishing technology and biodeterioration with more than 200 research publications to her credit.
Before becoming the Director of CIFT, she was the head of division of fishing technology at CIFT and served as Scientist, Senior Scientist and Principal Scientist in the same institute. Her areas of research includes development of newer fishing gear for coastal and deep sea fishing, conservation of fishery resources, upgradation of gear systems for reservoirs and responsible fishing, introduction of ecofriendly fishing methods, remote sensing and validation of PFZ, pollution monitoring, environment impact assessment, marine corrosion and bio-fouling.
She is the recipient of prestigious awards like Young Scientist Award of Kerala Science & Technology, Women and Technology Innovation Award, Panjab Rao Deshmukh Agricultural Scientist Award, VASVIK Award, Marie Curie Mahila Vijnana Puraskar, Dr. M. S. Randhawa Memorial Award and Society of Fisheries Technologist Award. She has been conferred D.Sc by Vidyasagar University, West Bengal for her study on the ‘Innovations in Fishing Technology’.
Before becoming the Director of CIFT, she was the head of division of fishing technology at CIFT and served as Scientist, Senior Scientist and Principal Scientist in the same institute. Her areas of research includes development of newer fishing gear for coastal and deep sea fishing, conservation of fishery resources, upgradation of gear systems for reservoirs and responsible fishing, introduction of ecofriendly fishing methods, remote sensing and validation of PFZ, pollution monitoring, environment impact assessment, marine corrosion and bio-fouling.
She is the recipient of prestigious awards like Young Scientist Award of Kerala Science & Technology, Women and Technology Innovation Award, Panjab Rao Deshmukh Agricultural Scientist Award, VASVIK Award, Marie Curie Mahila Vijnana Puraskar, Dr. M. S. Randhawa Memorial Award and Society of Fisheries Technologist Award. She has been conferred D.Sc by Vidyasagar University, West Bengal for her study on the ‘Innovations in Fishing Technology’.