Sri Vijaya Puram, October 28: A botanist from Jawaharlal Nehru Rajkeeya Mahavidyalaya (JNRM), Sri Vijaya Puram, has been appointed to an international conservation panel focused on mushrooms, bracket fungi and puffballs, bringing his research expertise in mycorrhizal fungi to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Species Survival Commission for the 2026–2029 term.
Dipon Sharmah, Assistant Professor and Head of JNRM’s Post Graduate Department of Botany, will serve as a member of the Mushroom, Bracket, and Puffball Specialist Group. The appointment places him among conservation experts working through the IUCN’s global network, which spans 186 countries.
Headquartered in Switzerland, the IUCN is internationally known for maintaining the Red List of Threatened Species, a global assessment of the conservation status of species. Its Species Survival Commission brings together specialists contributing expertise to species conservation.
Sharmah’s research focuses on mycorrhizal fungi, which form the basis of his work in the field. In 2015, he presented his research at the eighth International Conference on Mycorrhiza at Northern Arizona University in the United States.
He has been a faculty member at JNRM since 2011 and has published research papers in national and international journals, including Science Advances, Global Change Biology and Scientific Data. Alongside his academic work, he regularly writes on nature and environmental issues.
The appointment adds an international role to his academic and research work at the college, where he heads the postgraduate Botany department.
JNRM Principal Pearl Devdas, along with the institution’s faculty members and staff, congratulated Sharmah on his selection to the specialist group.
His three-year term will run from 2026 to 2029, during which he will serve as part of the IUCN Species Survival Commission’s specialist network for mushrooms, bracket fungi and puffballs.
