TNAU VC Dr.V.Geethalakshmi honoured as IMS Fellow

Dr.V.Geethalakshmi, Vice Chancellor, TNAU was elected to the prestigious Indian Meteorological Society Fellow on Nov 22 2023 by the IMS National Council in recognition of her outstanding contributions to meteorology and allied fields of science and technology. 
Dr.M.Mahapatra, Director, Indian Meteorological Department gave the award during the National Symposium on Tropical Meteorology - TROPMET 2023, held at Birla Institute of Science Research, Jaipur. Dr.AlpanaKateja, Vice Chancellor, Rajasthan University, Dr.RK.Giri, Dr.RupaKolli andDr.PVS Raju were present at the award ceremony.
Dr.V.Geethalakshmi played a key role in positioning India in the global map of Agrometeorology research. She is responsible for the establishment of Agro Climate Research Centre (ACRC) in TNAU. She is a key person in TNAU for the development and delivery of Weather Based Agro-Advisory Services in Tamil Nadu which empowered deprived farmers to take informed farm decisions for increasing the farm income. She developed tool kit for predicting seasonal rainfall at District scale over Tamil Nadu for taking strategic farming decisions based on real-time Sea Surface Temperature, Sudden Oscillation Index and Indian Ocean Dipole. Dr.Geethalakshmi designed 
rehabilitation and restoration programs to reclaim agriculture production in Tsunami-affected regions of Tamil Nadu during 2004. 
The team of scientists headed by Dr.Geethalakshmi assessed the damages caused by Gaja cyclone in Tamil Nadu during 2018 and developed plans and policies to restore agriculture. 
She was instrumental in establishing a network of Automatic Weather Stations and implementing Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme protocols in selected districts of Tamil Nadu. 
She contributed in the preparation of Tamil Nadu-State Action Plan on Climate Change, Tamil Nadu Drought Policy and India’s Science Technology Innovation Policy 2020. Dr.Geethalakshmi was also involved in the preparation of water policy for sustainable intensification of agriculture through  critical investments in irrigation infrastructure.