Sanjeeva Nayaka (Hindi: संजीव नायक; Kannada: ಸಂಜೀವ ನಾಯಕ) is an Indian lichenologist. He is a Chief Scientist at CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute (CSIR-NBRI), Lucknow. He is in charge of the lichenology laboratory. He serves as managing editor of the journal ''Cryptogam Biodiversity and Assessment'', and editor of ''ILS eLetters,'' both published by the Indian Lichenological Society.

Career

Nayaka was introduced to research during his graduate studies. He was a volunteer in the 'Western Ghats Biodiversity Inventory Programme'. He was awarded with a Summer Research Fellowship of Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore to study the lichens of Bangalore under

Madhav Gadgil Madhav Dhananjaya Gadgil (born 24 May 1942) is an Indian ecologist, academic, writer, columnist and the founder of the ''Centre for Ecological Sciences'', a research forum under the aegis of the Indian Institute of Science. He is a former membe ...

. After his post-graduation Nayaka moved to Lucknow to work with Dr. D.K. Upreti at CSIR-NBRI. Initially he worked as a project assistant on the All-India Coordinated Project on Taxonomy. During this period, he explored lichens of

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

. In 2001 he was appointed as a scientist at CSIR-NBRI. Nayaka revised the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Lecanora ''Lecanora'' is a genus of lichen commonly called rim lichens.Field Guide to California Lichens, Stephen Sharnoff, Yale University Press, 2014, Lichens in the genus '' Squamarina'' are also called rim lichens. Members of the genus have roughly c ...

'' for his doctoral thesis under Upreti's supervision. He earned his Ph.D. from Dr. R. M. L. Awadh University, Faizabad. His research interests include taxonomy, biomonitoring and bioprospecting of lichens. Apart from ''Lecanora'' he has revised taxa such as ''

Buellia ''Buellia'' is a genus of mostly lichen-forming fungi in the family Caliciaceae. The fungi are usually part of a crustose lichen. In this case, the lichen species is given the same name as the fungus. But members may also grow as parasites on lic ...

'', ''

Lecidea ''Lecidea'' is a genus of crustose lichen, crustose lichens with a carbon-black ring or outer margin (exciple) around the fruiting body disc (apothecium), usually (or always) found growing on (Saxicolous lichen, saxicolous) or in (Endolithic lich ...

'', '' Phyllopsora'' and '' Rinodina''. He has described 28 new lichen species and reported over 110 species as new distributional record. Nayaka travelled throughout India and published lichen floristic accounts for several regions. His major work involves lichens of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

and

Eastern Ghats The Eastern Ghats is a mountain range that stretches along the East Coast of India, eastern coast of the Indian peninsula. Covering an area of , it traverses the states and union territories of India, states of Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Prade ...

. He surveyed various wildlife sanctuaries and national parks in India, and he has visited

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

twice to study its lichens and their

ecophysiology Ecophysiology (from Greek , ''oikos'', "house(hold)"; , ''physis'', "nature, origin"; and , '' -logia''), environmental physiology or physiological ecology is a biological discipline that studies the response of an organism's physiology to envir ...

. He has handled eight research projects as Principal Investigator and he is a co-Investigator on more than 25 projects. Nayaka published more than 200 research articles. He participated in national and international conferences and published about 180 abstracts. He authored or edited three books: ''A field Guide to the common Lichens of Corbett Tiger Reserve'', ''Lichens of Uttar Pradesh'', and ''Plant Diversity of Uttar Pradesh (Including Algae and Fungi)''.

Recognition

* Fellow of

Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature collec ...

, London (2021) * Fellow of Mycological Society of India * Fellow of International Society for Environmental Botanist (ISEB), India * Life member of

International Association for Lichenology The International Association for Lichenology (IAL) is an organisation that encourages the understanding of lichens and lichenology, and promotes their study and conservation worldwide. It unites lichenologists across the globe, as well as nation ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nayaka, Sanjeeva 1974 births Indian ecologists Indian taxonomists Indian lichenologists Living people Scientists from Karnataka 20th-century Indian scientists 21st-century Indian scientists