Prof IS Grover award for plant scientist Prof (Dr) Amrik Singh Ahluwalia

Amritsar, June 13

The Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences of Guru Nanak Dev University organised an event to confer Prof IS Grover Memorial Lectureship Award, which has been instituted under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between GNDU and Prof Dr Avinash Kaur (retd).

Prof Avinash said the award was instituted in the name of late Prof IS Grover, Founder Head, Department of Botany and Dean, Faculty of Life Sciences, GNDU, to pay tribute to eminent scientists in the fields of plant and environmental sciences as well as to give exposure to students about the cutting-edge research being carried out by leading scientists of the nation.

This year, the award was conferred upon an eminent scientist in the field of plant sciences, Prof (Dr) Amrik Singh Ahluwalia, who delivered a lecture on the topic “My journey with photoautotrophs”.

The award consisted of cash prize of Rs 20,000, a plaque and a certificate. Prof Ahluwalia highlighted the importance of different forms of blue green algae in space as single cell protein, as a source of energy in the form of biofuels, medicine, for phytoremediation and as nutraceuticals. His lecture has opened new vistas to overextend and substantiate the algal research to be taken up further for the benefit of society. His discourse on minute algal forms motivated the young minds to explore nature for its further applications in modern and challenging areas of research such as forensic sciences.

Prof Sarabjot Singh Behl, Dean, Academic Affairs, stressed that these organisms, which seem to be waste for a common man, have so much role and potential to purify the environment as well as can be used for the welfare of human beings. He also encouraged the researchers of the department to pursue further research in this field by applying molecular tools.

Highlights importance of blue green algae

• The award was conferred upon the eminent scientist in the field of plant sciences, who delivered a lecture on the topic “My journey with photoautotrophs”
• Prof Amrik Singh Ahluwalia highlighted the importance of different forms of blue green algae in space as a single cell protein, as a source of energy in the form of biofuels, medicine, for phytoremediation and as nutraceuticals