The Zoological Survey of India, one of the premier organisations involved in taxonomic studies of fauna, got its first woman Director.
Dhriti Banerjee, entomologist with an expertise in Diptera, has taken over as the 18th director of the 105-year institute on August 6. Headquartered in Kolkata, the ZSI has 16 regional centres and about 300 scientists.
Dr. Banerjee spearheaded the ZSI faunal information system, multi-dimensional platform housing information, collections, spatial and temporal data as well as genetics and molecular information about the faunal species.
“When I joined the institute in the late 1990s, the number of women scientists at the ZSI was about 24%. This has considerably increased and reached 40% under the encouragement of the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change. My appointment is an indication that women scientists are being taken seriously by the policy makers,” she said.
Dr. Banerjee told The Hindu that she will not only try to carry forward the legacy of 105 years of the ZSI but also take it to greater heights in the light of new technology and artificial intelligence.
“Our objective will also be to render help in the process of conservation of our faunal diversity so that we can attain the goals of sustainable development.”
The ZSI was started in 1916 by Thomas Nelson Annadale with the primary objective of inventorying and documenting faunal diversity — 1,02,161 species (as per animal discoveries 2019) which is equivalent to 6.52% of all fauna in the world.
