Prof. Suresh Chand Rai is a Professor of Physical Geography, Head, Department of Geography, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi. He did his Master of Science in Geography from Banaras Hindu University in 1979 and was also awarded a Ph.D. degree in Geography from Banaras Hindu University in 1984. Prof. Rai served as a Scientist at G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment and Sustainable Development (An Autonomous Institute of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Govt. of India) from 1989-to 2005. He was Dy. Coordinator of UGC SAP-DRS III (2013-2018). Prof. Suresh Chand Rai has been ranked 48 among the top Asian Geographer and 764 top world geographers in a survey conducted for World Scientist and University Rankings 2021 by AD Scientific Index.Prof. Rai’s significant contributions are in the field of land and water resource management, watershed management, wetland ecosystem, and groundwater hydrology. His work has been outstanding inthe Integrated Watershed Management in the Sikkim Himalaya have been recognized through the Soil and Water Conservation Society of USA, Award, 1999. He also made significant achievements in the Hydro-ecology of a sacred lake, Indigenous knowledge, and Enterprise based community-linked biodiversity conservation on major tourist destinations in Sikkim. The extensive studies made by Prof. Rai on various aspects of mountain hydrology have not only helped in understanding the structure and function of the systems, but also in finding out means of how to make the system sustainable. He was also involved in the Department of Science and Technology (DST), a Government of India-sponsored project on designing and constructing low-cost polythene-based water harvesting tanks in rainfed hills and farm-based technology packages. Prof. Rai participated and delivered lectures in several meetings organized by the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), Core Projects “Biospheric Aspects ofHydrological Cycle” (BAHC), IAHS/IAH, Taiwan Group on Earth Observations (TGEO), International Geographical Union (IGU) and International Human Dimensions Programme (IHDP).Prof. Rai has published more than 100 research papers in various Impact Factor/Peer-Reviewed Journals and books (Scopus h-index-19). He has also authored 8 books to enrich the discipline. Prof. Rai was nominated as a Member IUGG-IGU National Committee of the Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi, India. Prof. Rai was appointed Honorary President for the development of Moldovan-Indian Scientific relations by the Centre for Military Historical Geography of the Republic of Moldova, 2021. Prof. Rai received the “Award of International Medals-2020” for his personal merits and the development of relations with the Republic of Moldova and Romania. Prof. Rai received the “Life Time Achievement Award, 2019”, from Land Use Management (CLUMA), Hyderabad, Telangana. He has been awarded “Highly Commended Paper Award- 2016” from Willey and Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM), London, U.K. Prof. Rai has also been the recipient of “Professor Bandaru Hema Malini Eminent Geographers Award- 2013” by National Association of Geographers, India (NAGI) Delhi. He received “The honourable Mention Best Paper Award for 1999” by the Board of Directors of Soil and Water Conservation Society, USA. Since 2010, he is serving as Secretary-General of the National Association of Geographers, India (NAGI), the largest body of Geographers in the country. Prof. Rai was elected Vice President of the Asian Geographical Society, Headquarters at Beijing, P.R. China for four years (2019-2023).
