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PANKAJ KUMAR

Miami Dade College, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Forest Research Institute Dehradun, Florida International University

ORCID iD 0000-0002-3469-5731
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About

Defying all the expectations of my family and the society, I chose to study botany, because I was always passionate about plants. I earned Bachelor’s degree in Botany (Honors) and Master’s degrees in Botany (Cytogenetics, Radiation Genetics and Plant Breeding). I went further to pursue my PhD in Forest Botany on the topic ‘Taxonomy, Community Ecology, and Ethnobotany of Orchids in Central India’ at Wildlife Institute of India and the Forest Research Institute University. After finishing my PhD in Dec 2008, I joined my first post-doctoral project on similar previous project but based in Western Himalaya and my second post-doctoral was to develop a long-term biodiversity monitoring protocol for India’s first global transboundary project with China and Nepal on Kailash Sacred Landscape Initiative, MoEFCC-funded and implemented along with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) Nepal. From 2011 to 2022, I served as a Botanist, specializing in Orchid Taxonomy and Ecology, at the Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden Corporation (KFBG) in Hong Kong focusing on the conservation of orchids in the Indo-Myanmar Biodiversity Hotspot. In December 2022, I transitioned to the United States, where based on my expertise, I joined Texas Tech University as an unpaid Visiting Scholar which subsequently changed to a paid Consultant after receiving an EAD and SSN. As a part of this engagement I conducted botanical surveys, do red list assessments of endemic orchids of USA, assist existing researchers at the lab in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences. After finishing my project, I moved to Florida and associated with Florida International University (FIU) as well as Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden (FTBG) in Miami and a Courtesy Research Associate with and aim to study orchid-mycorrhiza relationship among native and non-native orchids. In December 2024 I joined Miami Dade College as an Adjunct Professor, teaching General Biology and General Botany courses. Once in USA, I also got associated actively with the PlantingScience initiative of Botanical Society of America as mentor to school students. When not teaching I work on my self-funded projects on orchid-animal interaction among native American orchids. I hold over 25 years of experience working on plant conservation across Asia and now in USA.

Employment

  • Miami Dade College Adjunct Professor
    2024 - Present
  • Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Research Affiliate
    2024 - Present
  • Florida International University Research Affiliate
    2024 - Present
  • Texas Tech University Consultant
    2023 - 2024
  • Texas Tech University
    2023 - 2023
  • Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden Conservation Officer
    2011 - 2022
  • Wildlife Institute of India Research Scholar
    2002 - 2011

Education

  • Forest Research Institute Dehradun PhD
    2003 - 2008

Projects & Funding

Projects & funding information is unavailable.

Publications (140)