Indian American Dr. Girish Panicker Awarded International Conservation Research Award

A Kerala-based Indian-American Dr. Girish Panicker has been awarded the International Conservation Research Award.      

Dr. Girish Panicker, an Indian-American researcher, has received the 2023 International Conservation Research Award, on account of his outstanding achievements in conservation research.

The Kerala-based Indian American researcher is currently serving as the director of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Conservation Research Program. He is also working as a professor at Alcorn State University in Mississippi. Owing to his excellence in the field of Agriculture, Dr. Panicker has been awarded the International Conservation Research Award by the Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS). 

His research on C-factor (Cover and Management) is highly used by graduate students and environmentalists to stop soil erosion, and thus, deal with climate change issues. His experiments were aimed to prevent chronic illnesses like lung cancer and coronary artery disease, experimenting with blueberries. 

Panicker has collaborated with the American government regarding organic fertilizers. He conducted various studies and produced muscadines with research, designed critically to eliminate breast cancer. His research includes cover crops to produce the necessary particulars for erosion prediction, nutrient management, and climate change. His achievements extend to winning prestigious awards like the Pride of India and the 2020 Organic Achievement Award from the American Society of Agronomy.

Panicker commented on his achievement as a great recognition to both him and Alcorn State. He expressed his gratitude for working at the university and shared his inspiration to work on the very project. The research goes to various countries all around the globe.

His passion for horticulture and agronomy was awakened and nurtured on his family farm in Kerala, where he was highly inspired by his mother’s profound commitment to natural farming and education. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in agriculture from the University of Kerala, he traveled all across the world and worked with several governments and the United Nations. Obtaining his master’s from Alcorn State University, he specialized his doctorate in horticulture and pomology at Mississippi State University.