Dr. Sanjay Molur, Coimbatore-based wildlife conservationist, receives prestigious Wildlife Service Award
Coimbatore: Dr. Sanjay Molur, Executive Director, Zoo Outreach Organization (Zooreach), has received Sanctuary Asia’s prestigious ‘Wildlife Service Award 2020’ for his pioneering work in the field of wildlife conservation for over a quarter of a century.
The award was presented by Aditya Agarwal, Managing Director, Morningstar India on January 30, 2021, through an online ceremony. This is a recognition of Dr. Molur’s quiet, thorough, unsung and painstaking work as a scientist, organisation director, chief editor, species expert, mentor, and for his invaluable contribution to India’s conservation efforts.
The Sanctuary Wildlife Awards were instituted in 2000 to recognise and draw national attention to individuals working for the protection of wildlife and natural habitats in India. This year, for the first time ever, the award ceremony was held virtually.
Dr. Molur started his career at Zooreach under the guidance of Sally Walker in 1993 in Coimbatore. He contributed his time and efforts to the IUCN Red Listing process and developed Species Conservation Plans along with subject experts in South Asia to understand the risk of extinction faced by various species such as the majestic Asiatic Lion, the elusive Red Panda, the unique Gharial and many others. What makes his work unique is that he has also assessed the threats faced by some of the not-so-popular species such as frogs, snakes, and other creatures and also medicinal plants. Till date, he has evaluated the status of over 10,000 species from across the world!
He has conducted extensive on-ground field studies on the rodents and bats of Coorg, taxonomy of spiders and was among first scientists to report the dangerous chytrid fungus affecting frogs in the Western Ghats. Apart from this, he has also worked extensively on citizen-science initiatives, community awareness campaigns, and influenced action on the ground with stakeholder participation through the Human-Elephant and Human-Langur Coexistence modules in South Asia. He has worked on policies in connection with freshwater biodiversity and ecosystems, and on marine organisms like sea cucumbers to promote evidence-based policy decisions.
Dr. Molur also founded the Journal of Threatened Taxa (JoTT), the first international platinum open-access journal in India that publishes scientific articles on flora, fauna and fungi to promote evidence-based conservation in India. He has been instrumental in nurturing a spirit of scientific inquiry and collaboration among countless young minds through many capacity building workshops, and has built a generation of international conservation leaders many of whom are making incredible contributions to conservation today.
Today along with the Zooreach team, he is combating the climate crisis and creating awareness about the role of species in the survival of the human race.
To know more about Zooreach, visit www.zooreach.org.
The award was presented by Aditya Agarwal, Managing Director, Morningstar India on January 30, 2021, through an online ceremony. This is a recognition of Dr. Molur’s quiet, thorough, unsung and painstaking work as a scientist, organisation director, chief editor, species expert, mentor, and for his invaluable contribution to India’s conservation efforts.
The Sanctuary Wildlife Awards were instituted in 2000 to recognise and draw national attention to individuals working for the protection of wildlife and natural habitats in India. This year, for the first time ever, the award ceremony was held virtually.
Dr. Molur started his career at Zooreach under the guidance of Sally Walker in 1993 in Coimbatore. He contributed his time and efforts to the IUCN Red Listing process and developed Species Conservation Plans along with subject experts in South Asia to understand the risk of extinction faced by various species such as the majestic Asiatic Lion, the elusive Red Panda, the unique Gharial and many others. What makes his work unique is that he has also assessed the threats faced by some of the not-so-popular species such as frogs, snakes, and other creatures and also medicinal plants. Till date, he has evaluated the status of over 10,000 species from across the world!
He has conducted extensive on-ground field studies on the rodents and bats of Coorg, taxonomy of spiders and was among first scientists to report the dangerous chytrid fungus affecting frogs in the Western Ghats. Apart from this, he has also worked extensively on citizen-science initiatives, community awareness campaigns, and influenced action on the ground with stakeholder participation through the Human-Elephant and Human-Langur Coexistence modules in South Asia. He has worked on policies in connection with freshwater biodiversity and ecosystems, and on marine organisms like sea cucumbers to promote evidence-based policy decisions.
Dr. Molur also founded the Journal of Threatened Taxa (JoTT), the first international platinum open-access journal in India that publishes scientific articles on flora, fauna and fungi to promote evidence-based conservation in India. He has been instrumental in nurturing a spirit of scientific inquiry and collaboration among countless young minds through many capacity building workshops, and has built a generation of international conservation leaders many of whom are making incredible contributions to conservation today.
Today along with the Zooreach team, he is combating the climate crisis and creating awareness about the role of species in the survival of the human race.
To know more about Zooreach, visit www.zooreach.org.