Narayana Balakrishnan Nair (1927–2010) was a marine biologist, ecologist and the founder president of Kerala Science Congress. He was known for his advocacy of

trawling Trawling is a method of fishing that involves pulling a fishing net through the water behind one or more boats. The net used for trawling is called a trawl. This principle requires netting bags which are towed through water to catch different speci ...

ban during

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

seasons which was later accepted and imposed by the Government of Kerala. A Jawaharlal Nehru fellow, Nair was an elected fellow of all the major Indian science academies as well as the

Zoological Society of London The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. It was founded in 1826. Since 1828, it has maintained the London Zoo, and since 1931 Whipsnade Park. History On 29 ...

. The

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (IAST: ''vaigyanik tathā audyogik anusandhāna pariṣada''), abbreviated as CSIR, was established by the Government of India in September 1942 as an autonomous body that has emerged as the l ...

, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (SSB) is a science award in India given annually by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for notable and outstanding research, Applied science, applied or Fundamenta ...

, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1971, for his contributions to biological sciences. He received the fourth highest Indian civilian honor of the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

in 1984.

Biography

Balakrishnan Nair was born on 5 February 1927 in Perumbavoor in

Ernakulam District Ernakulam, ; ISO: ''Eṟaṇākuḷaṁ'', in Malayalam: എറണാകുളം), is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala, that takes its name from the eponymous city division in Kochi. It is situated in the central part o ...

in the South Indian state of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. After obtaining a doctoral degree (PhD) from the

University of Madras The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigiou ...

in 1955, he continued his researches there to secure the degree of Doctor of Science in 1965 and started his career by joining the

University of Kerala University of Kerala, formerly the University of Travancore, is a state-run public university located in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital of Kerala, India. It was established in 1937 by a promulgation of the Maharajah of Travancore, Chit ...

as a member of the faculty of science. He held various positions at the university such as that of the head of the Department of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries (1968–80) and the dean of the faculty of science (1976) till he moved out in 1978 to take up positions elsewhere. Subsequently, he chaired the ''Science, Technology and Environment Committee'' (STEC) (present-day

Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) is an autonomous body constituted by the Government of Kerala in November 2002 to encourage and promote science and technology-related activities in Kerala State. Prior to the ...

) of the state government and served as a member of the ''Kerala State Coastal Zone Management Authority'', established by the Government of Kerala in 2002. He also served as an emeritus professor of the

(CSIR) from 1991 onwards. Nair was married to Gomathi and the couple had a son, B. Chandra Mohan and a daughter, G. Aparna Krishna Mohan, both medical doctors. The family lived in

Vazhuthacaud Vazhuthacaud is located in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala, India. The place is located 3 kilometres from the Thiruvananthapuram Central Railway Station and 8 kilometres from the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport. Vazhuthaca ...

, in

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

and it was here he died on 21 April 2010, at the age of 82, succumbing to age-related illnesses.

Legacy

Balakrishnan Nair focused his researches on organisms that damage the marine ecology and his studies on the wood-boring

molluscs Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil sp ...

helped in understanding the mechanism of their timber boring activities. He studied the

littoral The littoral zone or nearshore is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely inundated), to coastal areas ...

ecology and proposed measures for conservation of aquatic life and its management. It was known that his advocacy for banning the trawling activities during the

seasons in Kerala influenced the subsequent decision by the state government to impose monsoon trawling, thereby contributing in conserving the shrimp population of the Kerala coasts. His expertise on the field of ''biodeterioration of cellulose in aquatic environment'' was reported to have been acknowledged by the science community. He proposed measures for the conservation of tropical

wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

and

mangroves A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in several ...

and for the management of

marine algae Marine primary production is the chemical synthesis in the ocean of organic compounds from atmospheric or dissolved carbon dioxide. It principally occurs through the process of photosynthesis, which uses light as its source of energy, but it al ...

and

seagrasses Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four families (Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae and Cymodoceaceae), all in the orde ...

. He published his studies through over 400 articles and several books. ''A Textbook of Marine Ecology'', ''The Biology of Woodboring Teredinid Molluscs'', ''Marine Timber Destroying Organisms of the Andaman-Nicobar Islands and the Lakshadweep Archipelago'' and ''Advances in Aquatic Biology and Fisheries'', in English language and ''Paristhithivignanam'' (Environmental Studies) and ''Kadal: Oru Adbhudam'' (Ocean: A Wonder), both in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

. are some of the notable ones among them. Nair was one of the founder members of the Kerala Science Congress when it was established in 1989 and served as its president since inception till 1992. He was the chairman of the ''Science, Technology and Environment Committee'' (STEC) (later remodeled as

) and was a member of the

Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, formerly the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the Americas. It was founded in 1812, by many of the leading natura ...

He sat in the panel of experts of the ''Centre for Coastal Zone Management and Coastal Shelter Belt'', with responsibility for the state of Kerala and was a founder member of the ''Kerala State Coastal Zone Management Authority''. He chaired the Indo-Dutch Mission for the ''Kallada Environmental Action Programme'' in 1991 and served as the secretary to the Government of Kerala at the Department of Science, Technology and Environment from 1986 to 1991. He was a member of the council of the

Indian National Science Academy The Indian National Science Academy (INSA) is a national academy in New Delhi for Indian scientists in all branches of science and technology. In August 2019, Dr. Chandrima Shaha was appointed as the president of Indian National Science Academ ...

during 1978–80 and was involved with eight science journals as a member of their editorial boards while serving as the chief editor of ''Aquatic Biology'' journal from 1980 to 1986. A life member of the Marine Biological Association of India, he participated in several conferences to deliver keynote addresses.

Awards and honors

Nair was awarded the

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (SSB) is a science award in India given annually by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for notable and outstanding research, Applied science, applied or Fundamenta ...

, one of the highest Indian science awards, by the

in 1971. In 1979, he was selected as a National Professor by the University Grants Commission and he received the All India Congress of Zoology Gold Medal in 1980. His project on ''Ecology of Biodeterioration in the sea around India with special reference to Timber Destroying Organisms'' was chosen for the

Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship The Jawaharlal Nehru Trust Scholarship U.K. was founded by Admiral Lord Mountbatten of Burma in 1966 as a tribute to the India's first Prime Minister – Jawaharlal Nehru – after his death in 1964. The scholarship was funded by the Nehru Me ...

in 1982 and the Government of India included him in the Republic Day honors list for the civilian award of the

in 1984. The

, which elected him as their fellow in 1975, awarded him the Chandrakala Hora Memorial Medal in 1987. He was also an elected fellow of the

Indian Academy of Sciences The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore was founded by Indian Physicist and Nobel Laureate C. V. Raman, and was registered as a society on 24 April 1934. Inaugurated on 31 July 1934, it began with 65 founding fellows. The first general meet ...

National Academy of Sciences, India The National Academy of Sciences, India, established in 1930, is the oldest science academy in India. It is located in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. Prof. Meghnad Saha was the founder president. Fellows *Suddhasatwa Basu * Sudha Bhattacharya * Ch ...

The World Academy of Sciences The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) is a merit-based science academy established for developing countries, uniting 1,000 scientists in some 70 countries. Its principal aim is to promote scientific capacity and excellence for sustainable devel ...

(2002),

, Zoological Society of India, Marine Biological Association of India and was a founder fellow of the

National Academy of Agricultural Sciences The National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) is a Government of India funded agency, established in 1990, is a research platform in the fields of crop husbandry, animal husbandry, fisheries and agro-forestry. It acts as a research base for ...

. Nansen Environmental Research Centre (India) have instituted an annual award, ''Prof. N. Balakrishnan Nair Award'' in his honor for recognizing excellence.

Selected bibliography

* * * * *

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nair, Narayana Balakrishnan Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Biological Science 1927 births 2010 deaths People from Ernakulam district Malayali people University of Madras alumni Academic staff of the University of Kerala Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Indian marine biologists Indian ecologists Scientists from Kochi Fellows of the Indian Academy of Sciences Fellows of the National Academy of Sciences, India Fellows of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences Fellows of the Zoological Society of London TWAS fellows 20th-century Indian biologists Recipients of the Padma Shri in science & engineering 20th-century Indian earth scientists