Prof. Durbha Sai Ramesh received M.Tech degree in Applied Geophysics from the University of Roorkee (now Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee) during 1984 and obtained his PhD in seismology from National Geophysical Research Institute and Osmania University, Hyderabad in 1991.
Prof. Ramesh took charge as Director, Indian Institute of Geomagnetism in 2013 and served till 2021. Prior to joining IIG, he was engaged as Chief Scientist at the National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad. During his tenure as Director IIG, several new initiatives were introduced in the institute. Notable among them were: the theme-based three-year research programs, interdisciplinary research programs to understand Space Weather, the Coupled Lithosphere-Atmosphere-Ionosphere-Magnetosphere system etc., High Performance Computing system, the prestigious Nanabhoy Moos Fellowships, a Post-Doctoral program to retain bright doctorates in India with the acronym IMPRESS (Inspiring the Minds of Post-graduates for Research in Earth and Space Sciences) to attract young postgraduates towards research in Earth & Space Sciences.
Under the stewardship of Prof. Ramesh, IIG established its third regional centre at Shillong, the Shillong Geophysical Research Centre (SGRC) and a Multi-parametric Geophysical Observatory at Shoal Bay-8, South Andamans. The Shillong Geophysical Research Centre (SGRC) was established with a vision to focus on the seismically vulnerable Northeast India with the ultimate objective to build a precursor hierarchy related to large magnitude earthquake occurrence through in-depth understanding of the coupled nature of the dynamic Lithosphere-Atmosphere-Ionosphere system. Some of his outstanding contributions to the scientific community through his diverse research interests are the effective use of entropy-metrics to understand the fine structure of the Earth’s crust and mantle, predicting the solar cycle characteristics and magnetospheric conditions, understanding the complex lithosphere-atmosphere-ionosphere-magnetosphere system etc. As a cutting-edge research initiative in Ionospheric Seismology, Prof. Ramesh with his colleagues at IIG could enable the identification of a new class of wave disturbances as an ionospheric precursor for a Tsunami. His recent work on global warming due to the greenhouse gas emissions vis a vis the retarding impact of the ‘volcano emissions’ drew global attention. Exploiting the power of entropy as applied to time series data, he deciphered several elusive earth-ocean-atmosphere processes related to the Sun-Earth connection.
In recognition of his contributions in the field of seismology in general and seismic tomography and anisotropy in particular, he was awarded the prestigious Indian National Science Academy (INSA) Young Scientist Medal in 1991 and the Associateship of the Indian Academy of Sciences. He has been the recipient of Andhra Pradesh Akademi of Sciences, Young Scientist Award, 1992. During 1992-1993, Prof. Ramesh visited Ruhr University, Bochum, Germany on the coveted Commission of European Communities Fellowship to carry out Post-Doctoral work to image the mantle transition zone beneath the Eastern Europe. Owing to his original scientific contributions, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Bonn, Germany, bestowed him with the prestigious Humboldt Fellowship in 1997. He received INSA-DFG (Deutsche Forschungs Gemeinschaft, Germany) visiting scientist fellowship in 2007. Prof. Ramesh was invited as a visiting scientist at ERI, University of Tokyo, Japan, from 2003-2004, and visiting Professor, OHRC, University of Tokyo, Japan, in 2005. He served as Adjunct Professor at SRTM University Nanded from 2016-2021 and Osmania University from 2008-2011.
Prof. Ramesh as Director IIG served on the Scientific Advisory Committee of ISRO institutions such as NARL and SPL. Besides being a member on several important national committees, Prof. Ramesh played a key role in shaping the National Geospatial Data policy and the futuristic National Science & Technological Research University, an umbrella organisation for the DST institutions. In his individual capacity, Prof. Ramesh continues to be a member on the PAC of the DST for Bi-Lateral programs on Earth & Environmental Sciences and the Governing body of the SN Bose institute Kolkata.
