The 105-year-old Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) has got its first woman director. Dhriti Banerjee has been appointed as the 18th director of the ZSI. Headquartered in Kolkata, the ZSI has 16 regional centres and about 300 scientists, and is one of the premier organisations involved in taxonomic studies of fauna. Recently, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet 'approved the proposal for appointment of Dr Dhriti Banerjee, scientist E, Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) as director.'
Banerjee is an entomologist with expertise in Diptera. She spearheaded the ZSI faunal information system, multi-dimensional platform housing information, collections, spatial and temporal data as well as genetics and molecular information about the fauna species. 'When I joined the institute in the late 1990s, the number of women scientists at the ZSI was about 24%. This has considerably increased and reached 40% under the encouragement of the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change. My appointment is an indication that women scientists are being taken seriously by the policy makers,' she said in an interview with a leading daily.
An alumnus of Presidency College (now Presidency University), Kolkata, Banerjee has worked on 15 scientific projects, and has around 95 scientific publications in peer-reviewed international and national journals to her credit. 'Our objective will also be to render help in the process of conservation of our faunal diversity so that we can attain the goals of sustainable development,' said Banerjee.
Banerjee also pointed out that women are blessed with the unique power to strike a balance between work and family. She further highlighted that today nearly 20 per cent of the new species discovered are by woman scientists. It was only in 1949 that the institute appointed its first woman scientist, Mira Mansukhani.