caption death_date death_place birth_place nationality birth_date article_title name occupation
john c. c jacob in 2006 . photograph by santhosh 11 october 2008 payyanur , kannur nattakam , kottayam indian 1936 john c. jacob
 john c jacob author , environmentalist , professor
john c. jacob

john c jacob -lrb- 1936 -- october 11 , 2008 -rrb- was one of the pioneers of the environmental movement in kerala , india .
jacob was born at nattakam in kottayam .
he earned a degree in zoology from madras christian college , after which he joined the faculty at st. joseph 's college , devagiri in kozhikode .
eventually he headed up the zoology department at payyanur college , where he worked until he retired in 1992 .
at payyanur , in 1972 he started a zoology club that would form the genesis of campus-based nature conservation activities .
the club also became involved in protesting threats to the environment .
jacobs also started a few `` green '' magazines stressing the need to preserve nature .
he also set up the society for environment education , kerala -lrb- seek -rrb- , which published an environment-focused magazine `` soochimukhi '' .
additionally , jacob led the movement against the silent valley project in south kerala .
he is the author of several books , including `` prakrithi : nireekshanavum vyakhyanavum '' and `` urangunnavarude thazhvaraka ' .
in recognition of his contributions to the environment , he was awarded the kerala biodiversity board 's haritham award and the state government 's vana mithra award .
the name of the plant impatiens johnsiana is dedicated prof. john c. jacob who was popularly known as ` johnsi ' , an ardent naturalist who had devoted his life to conserve the biodiversity of the western ghats .
the new plant is endemic to these parts of western ghats on densely clothed tree trunks in evergreen forests at an altitude of 1500-700 msl .
the observations showed that there are less than five hundred mature individuals restricted to a 10 km2 vested forest area .
impatiens johnsiana falls under the category critically endangered-cr -lrb- iucn 2001 -rrb- .
the research team included dr m. k. ratheesh narayanan -lrb- now with payyannur college kannur ; dr c. n. sunil -lrb- sree narayana mangalm college , moothakunnam ernakulam -rrb- ; dr n. anil kumar , jayesh p. joseph -lrb- mssrf , wayanad -rrb- and dr t. shaju -lrb- tropical botanic garden and research institute , thiruvananathapuram -rrb- .
