Dr Sonali Garg
New Delhi: As many as 42 scientists, including Delhi University’s Sonali Garg who is known for discovering more than 50 species of frogs from the Western Ghats and other parts of the country, were selected for the auspicious INSA Young Scientists Award.
Considered to be the highest recognition in the field, the YSA was established in 1974 by the Indian National Science Academy, in association with Kothari Scientific Research Institute.
Though normally 40 people are selected for the award annually, this year 42 scientists under the age of 40 found a place on the list.
Dr Saraswati Nayar of Plant Molecular Biology at Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram also won the award for demonstrating the role of the enzyme “LONELY GUY,” in cell division and growth.
Dr Sonali has carried out “original and creative research on systematics, taxonomy and biogeography of frogs and other amphibian taxa of the Western Ghats and the northeast Indian region,” said a release of INSA.
“She has employed traditional and modern molecular tools to circumscribe new species, solve existing taxonomic confusions, and published four dozen new frog species. Dr. Garg has reported a number of novel reproductive and ecological behaviors in frogs that were hitherto unknown to science. She has made sustained and focused research contribution in an area of important global biodiversity and conservation significance located in India,” it read.
The award consists of a bronze medal and an honorarium of Rs. 1 lakh.
