Shailesh Nayak
Shailesh Nayak (born 21 August 1953) is an Indian scientist and is currently Director of the National Institute of Advanced Studies and Distinguished Scientist in the Ministry of Earth Sciences. He was the Chair of the Earth System Science Organization (ESSO) and Secretary to the Government of India for Ministry of Earth Sciences(MoES) Indian government, between August 2008 – 2015. He was also the Chairman of Earth Commission in India. He served as the interim chairman of ISRO between 31 December 2014 and 11 January 2015. He has also served as director of the Indian National Centre for Ocean  Information Services, INCOIS, Hyderabad, India, an autonomous institution under ESSO (May 2006 to July 2008). At ESSO-INCOIS, he set up a state-of-the-art Early Warning System for Tsunami and Storm Surges in the Indian Ocean. He was responsible for the conceptualization and development of Marine GIS. He made outstanding contributions in improving advisory services related to potential fishing zones, ocean state forecast, and Indian Argo project. He has been providing leadership for the programs related to science of climate change, weather services, polar science, ocean science and modeling, ocean survey, resources, and technology. He chaired an expert  group and helped to establish a national GIS in the country. Personal life. Nayak was born on August 21, 1953, at Billimora, Navsari in Gujarat. He did his Ph.D. in geology in 1980 from M. S. University of Baroda, Vadodara and specialized in Oceanography, Remote sensing. He has also served in ISRO, his area of research includes Coastal and Ocean processes and ocean-atmosphere interaction, coastal geomorphology, hazards. He was honoured with an Honorary Doctorate of Science by Andhra University in 2011 and Assam University in 2013. He is recognized as a Ph.D. Guide by six Universities, and six students  have obtained Ph.D. under his supervision. He has published more than 100 papers in journals, conferences and reports. On August 31, 2015, he relinquished his post of Secretary of Ministry of Earth Sciences, Indian Government. Positions held. He has served ISRO and MoES in several capacities namely: He has held several key positions namely: Academic and research activities. Following are the highlights of his career as a renowned scientist: He has contributed immensely towards the advancement of research in Science and Technology in leading institutes of India in various capacities: