Shiva Balak Misra is an Indian geologist, writer and social worker from Barabanki district 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 ...

in India and is known for his contribution to the knowledge of earliest life forms on earth. In 1968, Misra made the discovery of

Ediacaran The Ediacaran ( ) is a geological period of the Neoproterozoic geologic era, Era that spans 96 million years from the end of the Cryogenian Period at 635 Million years ago, Mya to the beginning of the Cambrian Period at 538.8 Mya. It is the last ...

fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

attributed as the oldest multicellular life on Earth, The area of the formation containing the fossils was protected as the Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve in 1984, and declared a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

in 2016. The fossils were later named after Misra in 2007 as '' Fractofusus misrai''. In 1969, Misra returned from Canada after completing his MS Degree and established a school near his native village Deora in Barabanki district in India and continues to serve this school until today.

Early education

Misra grew up in a small village called Deora near

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

in Northern

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, and had to walk 12 Kilometers (8 miles) to the nearest school as a child. Brought up in hardships, he completed his Higher Secondary Certificate education from

Fossil discovery at Mistaken Point

Misra received a scholarship to pursue a Masters in Science from

Memorial University of Newfoundland Memorial University of Newfoundland, or MUN (), is a Public university, public research university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook ...

in Canada. Misra was first to prepare and present a systematic

geological map A geological map or geologic map is a special-purpose map made to show various geological features. Rock (geology), Rock units or stratum, geologic strata are shown by color or symbols. Bed (geology), Bedding planes and structural features such ...

of the region, to classify and describe the rock sequence of the area and to work out the depositional history of the rocks. During this

geological mapping A geological map or geologic map is a special-purpose map made to show various geological features. Rock units or geologic strata are shown by color or symbols. Bedding planes and structural features such as faults, folds, are shown with s ...

, in the summer of 1967, he discovered a rich assemblage of imprints of soft-bodied organisms on the surface of large rock slabs in the Conception Group of

Avalon Peninsula The Avalon Peninsula () is a large peninsula that makes up the southeast portion of the island of Newfoundland in Canada. It is in size. The peninsula is home to 270,348 people, about 52% of the province's population, according to the 2016 Ca ...

of Newfoundland at Mistaken Point. These were unusual impressions of previously unknown soft-bodied sea animals on the surfaces of

Argillite Argillite () is a fine-grained sedimentary rock composed predominantly of Friability, indurated clay particles. Argillaceous rocks are basically lithified muds and Pelagic sediment, oozes. They contain variable amounts of silt-sized particles. T ...

(mudstone) included

Coelenterates Coelenterata is a term encompassing the animal phylum, phyla Cnidaria (coral, corals, Scyphozoa, true jellies, Sea anemone, sea anemones, sea pens, and their relatives) and Ctenophora (comb jellies). The name comes , referring to the hollow body ...

and other

Metazoa Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia (). With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, have myocytes and are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and grow from a hol ...

of the

. The discovery was reported in 1968 in a paper in ''Nature''. Later, Misra described the Mistaken Point Fauna in more detail in 1969, in another paper published in the Bulletin of the

Geological Society of America The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. History The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hi ...

. He described the fossil assemblage into groups namely: # Spindle-shaped # Leaf-shaped # Round lobate # Dendrite like # Radiating

Social work

After completing his master's degree, remembering the hardships he had undergone, Misra decided to return to India and establish a village school with support from his wife Nirmala Misra, a Teacher by profession. He served as professor of geology and dean science at the Kumaun University in

Nainital Nainital (Kumaoni language, Kumaoni: ''Naintāl''; ) is a town and headquarters of Nainital district of Kumaon division, Uttarakhand, India. It is the judicial capital of Uttarakhand, the Uttarakhand High Court, High Court of the state being ...

and after retirement from this position again joined his wife Nirmala Misra in serving. After retirement, he also serves as Editor-in-chief of a rural news paper. In his 80s, Misra resides in

with his wife. His eldest son Neelesh Misra is a well known Indian journalist, author, radio storyteller, Bollywood scriptwriter, and lyricist.

Awards

Misra was awarded the Laadli Media Award for writing on gender sensitivity in 2014. Misra was also recognized with the Apeejay India Volunteer Award in 2011.

Books authored

Misra has authored two books: # Dream Chasing, One Man's Remarkable, True Life Story. # Nature & Indian-ness (भारतीयता और पयार्वरण)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Misra, Shiva Balak 21st-century Indian geologists Scientists from Lucknow Living people 1940 births