Plant Genetic Resources, Inventory, Collection and Conservation

Dr. Inocencio E Buot Jr is Professor of Botany and curator in the Plant Biology Division Herbarium (PBDH) and current head of the Plant Systematics Laboratory at the Institute of Biological Sciences (IBS), a Center of Excellence for Biology since 1984, University of the Philippines Los Banos (UPLB).  He obtained his PhD in botany (ecology) from the University of Chiba, Japan, in 1998 through a Monbusho Scholarship of the Japan Government and a postdoctoral research training in landscape ecology from 2003–2005 through the auspices of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). His laboratory is now focusing on biodiversity conservation and plant systematic studies.  He has published more than 150 articles in journals. He has received many prestigious awards for his research contribution.

Dr. Rajasekaran Chandrasekaran is serving as a full-time professor in the Department of Biotechnology, Vellore Institute of Technology. He graduated in botany at the University of Madras and Annamalai University. His obtained his doctoral degree from H.N. B. Grahwal University, specified with eco plant physiology. His research focuses on ecophysiology, conservation biodiversity, bioprospecting of medicinal and aromatic plants, phycoremediation, and climate change indicators. He has authored 77 manuscripts in high-impact factor journals and edited 3 books and contributed 22 book chapters. He has been nominated as a Fellow of Linnean Society (FLS), London, and elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (UK), Fellow of Indian Society for Plant Physiology (FISPP) Fellow of Academy of Sciences Chennai (FASCh). He is serving as commission member of many theme groups of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). He is the recipient of many awards.