New Delhi, Dec 31, (LAB) University of Florida, Gainesville, has honored Emeritus Director of the Centre for Wildlife Studies, Dr. Ullas Karanth for his outstanding work in the field of conservation and research of tigers and other mammals.
Dr Karanth is the recipient of one of India’s highest national civilian honors, the Padma Shri”. His works have been recognized by the world and has received wide global media coverage and significant recognition including the World Wildlife Fund’s J. Paul Getty Award.
At an commencement function held at the Stephen O’ Connell Center on December 18, 2021 at Florida, Dr Ullas Karanth was honoured as Distinguished Alumnus of 2021. Nearly four thousand students received their degrees, the Dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Prof. Elaine Turner described Dr. Karanth’s accomplishments with the following words:
“Dr. K. Ullas Karanth is a pioneer of science-based conservation and has been researching the ecology of tigers and other large mammals for the past 32 years. He was born and raised in the Western Ghat region of India, which is a global biodiversity hotspot.
He started his academic journey as an engineer, but changed direction to study wildlife biology, including earning a master’s degree in wildlife ecology from the University of Florida. His work and influence eventually spanned the entire distributional range of tigers. Dr. Karanth has been an active advocate for reconciling the conflicting needs of wildlife conservation and human development. His research has impacted conservation of species, protection of wild lands, contributions to policy, public outreach and advancing science.
University of Florida President Kent Fuchs presented the certification plaque saying:
“Dr. Karanth, in recognition of your exceptional accomplishments, I am pleased to present to you the University of Florida Distinguished Alumnus Award”.
Dr. Karanth was a student at the University of Florida in the mid 1980’s under the supervision of Melvin Sunquist, researching tiger ecology in Nagarahole. That decade saw the rise of the University of Florida’s program in wildlife conservation as a centre for global excellence, with its graduates eventually occupying eminent positions in academia, conservation NGOs and national and international agencies all over the world. While he was a student, Dr. Karanth was recruited as a staff scientist by Dr. George Schaller with a mandate to establish the WCS conservation program in India, which he led with distinction for the next 30 years. Dr. Karanth is currently Emeritus Director of the Centre for Wildlife Studies.
Karanth was a Senior Conservation Scientist with the New York based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Technical Director of the WCS Tiger Conservation Program. He directed the WCS-I effort to help save Bengal tigers and has conducted country-wide surveys to better estimate their population and habitat needs
Abhilash Pavuluri, Outreach Coordinator at Centre for Wildlife Studies said, Our many congratulations to Dr. Karanth for being awarded the highest of honors from the University of Florida, the fifth highest ranked public university in the United States. / LAB/SNG/