Since a young age, I've been fascinated by plants, wanting to know their names, how and where they grow, and how they differ from one another. With time, my fascination grew into a desire to learn more about plants, which led me to pursue a bachelor's degree in forestry from the University of Horticulture and Forestry in Himachal Pradesh, as well as M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in forestry from the Forest Research Institute University, Dehradun.
I had the privilege of investigating the flora and ecology of the cold-arid and Trans-Himalayan zone of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve in my doctoral thesis. Delineation of a new biogeographic province in the Trans-Himalaya, designation of Caragana versicolor as a keystone species, flora of NDBR, and discovery of a few new species in one of the least explored regions of the Western Himalaya were a few outcomes of the thesis.
I joined the Wildlife Institute of India as a faculty in May 2018. Prior to joining WII, I was a faculty at the Forest Research Institute University, Dehradun. Currently, I am a visiting faculty at the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy in Dehradun and the Institute of Mountaineering in Pune to teach systematic botany and Himalayan flora, respectively.
Plant ecology & interaction and field botany are the main focuses of my research. My current research includes understanding vegetation patterns, plant associations, floristic diversity assessment, ethnobotany, and the threatened medicinal plants conservation in the Himalaya. I enjoy photographing plants, hiking, biking, singing, and playing table tennis.
Dr. Amit Kumar
Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun 248001, India.
+91-0135-2646207, +91-9012701362
amit [at] wii [dot] gov [dot] in