Chrispus Livingstone (born 2 January 1949), often referred as ''Livi'', is an Indian research scientist, botanist, educator and multifaceted person. He was instrumental in upgrading the department of Botany to one of the top three in
India. During his stint the department witnessed significant innovative changes in the curriculum with the introduction of new papers and special projects (optionals) at various levels besides high quality research projects carried out by the senior professors and their research scholars leading to several accomplishments. He was also instrumental in setting up India's first artificial horticulture farm. Among his varied interests is the
taxonomy of tropical plants, especially flora of
Chennai, then
Madras
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
. He is perhaps best known for his book ''The flowering plants of Madras City and its immediate neighbourhood''.
Family
He was born to Chrispus Manikkam. He has two sons: Amithesh and Brijesh.
Academic achievements
He was Head of Department of
Botany at Madras Christian College (2003–2007).
Livingstone was also course coordinator of Department of
Microbiology
Microbiology () is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, prot ...
(self-financed stream), MCC,
Curator of MCC campus and president of Scrub Society. He was warden of St. Thomas’ hall. He remained Director to MCC farm. He is Treasurer of
Centre for Plants, People and Ecosystems, a
NGO working field based research on knowledge systems related to plants, people and ecosystems.
He showed keen interest in studying the plants of MCC campus from the time he joined the Botany Department and this resulted in the publication of ''Campus Flora'' in 1978.
Under the district
flora project of
Botanical Survey of India, he investigated the flora of
Chengalpattu District. His genuine interest in the study of
flowering plants resulted in the publication of book on ''Flowering plants of
Madras City
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast o ...
and its immediate neighbourhood'' in 1994. He successfully guided 30
M. Phil
The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil m ...
. Scholars and 11
Ph.D. scholars. He has published number of articles both in national and international repute. He also published several books. Two newly discovered plants of the
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, ''
Aidia livingstonii
''Aidia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It was described by João de Loureiro in 1790. It has a wide distribution area and occurs in tropical Africa, tropical and subtropical Asia and the western Pacific.
Species ...
'' Karthig et al. and ''
Liparis livingstonii
''Liparis'' may refer to:
* ''Liparis'' (amphipod), an invalid synonym of the skeleton shrimp genus ''Caprella''
* ''Liparis'' (fish), a genus of snailfishes
* ''Liparis'' (plant), a genus of orchids
* Liparis was the ancient name of the Mezit ...
'' Jayanthi et al. are named in honour of Livingstone for his contributions to
plant taxonomy. A species of
whitefly namely ''
Aleurocanthus
''Aleurocanthus'' is a genus of whiteflies in the family Aleyrodidae.
Species
*''Aleurocanthus arecae'' David & Manjunatha, 2003
*'' Aleurocanthus ayyari'' Regu & David, 1993
*''Aleurocanthus bambusae'' (Peal, 1903)
*'' Aleurocanthus bangalorens ...
livingstonii'' is also named after him. He is a life member of
Indian Association for Angiosperm Taxonomy
The Indian Association for Angiosperm Taxonomy (IAAT) was established in 1990. The IAAT is headquartered at the Department of Botany, Calicut University, Kozhikode, India.
The IAAT is affiliated to the International Association for Plant Taxonomy ...
.
Books
*'' The flowering plants of Madras City and its immediate neighbourhood / by P.V. Mayuranathan ; revised by C. Livingstone and A.N. Henry.''
*'' Campus flora of Madras Christian College/by Giles-Lal, D. and C. Livingstone. 1978. The Balussery Press. Madras. 78 p.''
*'' Environmental Studies’ (in Tamil), A Resource Book for the Compulsory Course on Environmental Science as per UGC Syllabus / C. Livingstone. 2004. New Age International Publishers, New Delhi.''
*'' Male Female Relationship / C.Livingstone (ed.), 1998. Bharati Mandram, Madras Christian College.''
Articles
Some of his significant articles are published in Kew Bulletin, Current Science, Rheedea, Journal of Nature Conservation, Zoos' Print Journal, Journal of Economic and Taxonomic Botany, Check List, etc.
Stephen, A., Anupama, K., Aravajy, S. and Livingstone, C. 2012. Leaf classes, foliar phenology and life forms of selected woody species from the tropical forests of central and southern Eastern Ghats, India. Check List, 8 (6): 1248-1266 (ISSN: 1809-127X) http://dx.doi.org/10.15560/8.6.1248.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Livingstone, C.
People from Kanyakumari district
1949 births
Living people
20th-century Indian botanists
Scientists from Tamil Nadu