DU professor S D Biju selected as Harvard's Radcliffe Fellow for contributions to amphibian research

Delhi University professor S D Biju has been selected as a 'Radcliffe Fellow' for 2023-24 by Harvard University for his "vast contributions to amphibian research and conservation", according to a statement issued on Monday.

In the past 23 years of this programme, Biju is the 60th fellow representing biological sciences and only the second individual in this discipline from India to achieve this feat, the statement issued by the Harvard Radcliffe Institute said.

"Biju had attracted global attention to amphibians in South Asia when his three decades of work discovered over a hundred new species, creating an upsurge in scientific knowledge," the institute said.

Considered among one of the most prestigious honours in research, the Harvard Radcliffe Institute Fellowship is awarded each year to 50 talented individuals from across the world.

As a fellow at Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University —known as Harvard Radcliffe Institute — Biju will "expedite efforts to outpace nameless extinctions in India’s amphibian hotspots through discovery and documentation of species and identification of key biodiversity areas for conservation prioritization," the statement said.

"Biju's work will involve on-site collaborations with Harvard faculty, postdocs and students, and use of the rich specimen collections of the Museum of Comparative Zoology," it added.

"It is a great honour to be part of Harvard's Radcliffe community. I look forward to joining an extraordinary cohort of Radcliffe Fellows and advancing my missions in such an academically rich and diverse environment," Biju was quoted as saying by the institute.

Past Radcliffe Fellows include Jill Lepore, Samantha Power, Zadie Smith, Elizabeth Warren, and the Nobel Laureate Michael Kremer.