Dr. Kunja Bihari Satapathy

Born on 25th February, 1955 at Kantabania, in the Jajpur district of Odisha, he passed Matriculation from University High School, Utkal University campus, Vani Vihar, Bhubaneswar in the year 1971, B.Sc. from the-then Regional College of Education, Bhubaneswar in 1976, M.Sc. and M.Phil. from the Department of Botany, Utkal University in 1978 and 1985 respectively. He began his professional career as Lecturer in Botany in Municipal College, Rourkela in 1984 and continued till 1990. Thereafter he joined Vyasa Nagar (Autonomous) College at Jajpur Road, Jajpur where he headed the Department of Botany till 2010. Meanwhile, he was awarded Ph.D. Degree in Botany by Utkal University in the year 1991 for his work titled “Production & Utilization of Azolla-Biofertilizer in Rice Cultivation” conducted at the erstwhile Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack. Later he availed a Teacher Fellowship programme of Govt. of Odisha and carried out the post-doctoral work on “Ecophysiology and Biotechnology of Azolla and its Aquatic Associates” in the Department of Botany, Utkal University and awarded with D.Sc. Degree by Utkal University in 2007. He joined the Department as a Reader in Botany in May, 2010 and became the Head of the Department in 2013 till his superannuation on the 28th February, 2015.
Besides his expertise in teaching and research in plant taxonomy and microbiology, his areas of research interest also include (i) Ethno-medicinal studies addressing to a large number of human & animal ailments and (ii) Phytoremediation of municipal sewage, industrial effluent and mines’ waste water employing Azolla and its floating associates. He has executed successfully several major research projects and consultancy projects pertaining to floristic analysis and Phytoremediation studies. He has published over 200 research articles in national and international journals as well as book chapters and conference proceedings volumes. Especially two books, authored by him namely “Azolla as Biofertilizer and Waste Disposer” and “Herbal Cure of Diabetes” are considered to be his most significant contribution. His effort to develop a protocol for production and utilization of Azolla-biofertilizer in rice cultivation and its popularization among the farmers in Odisha is enormous. Twelve students have been awarded Ph.D. Degree by Utkal University under his able supervision.
He has served as the Secretary of the Orissa Botanical Society during 2012-2014 and discharged his responsibilities to the fullest extent of his abilities. He has been nationally honoured when he was selected and received the young botanist award for the best research paper by the Indian Botanical Society in 1983. He was the recipient of International Ethnomedicine Research Award for the year-2014. Considering outstanding contributions to Plant Taxonomy, the Orissa Botanical Society awarded him the “Dr. Gopinath Panigrahi Memorial Award” for Plant Taxonomy in 2015. He was also conferred the College of Basic Science and Humanities, OUAT Award 2018 by the Orissa Botanical Society for significant contribution in Botany. Presently Dr. Satapathy is working as Emeritus Professor of Botany in Centurion University of Technology and Management, Bhubaneswar as well as a member of “Empowered Committee on AYUSH (Ayurveda & Homeopathy)”, in the Department of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of Odisha.