By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 28 Mar: The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has appointed Dr Renu Singh as Director of the premier Forest Research Institute, here. Dr Renu Singh is an officer of the Indian Forest Service (1990 batch) belonging to the Madhya Pradesh cadre. She joined as Director, FRI, today. Till now, AS Rawat, Director General, ICFRE, was holding additional Charge as Director, FRI.
Dr Singh is well read and has a bouquet of higher educational qualification to her credit. She holds an MSc Degree in Botany and Forestry as well as M Phil in Botany from Meerut University. She was awarded PhD on “Gender, Participation and Community Forestry: The case of joint forest management in Madhya Pradesh” by the University of Wales, United Kingdom. Before joining FRI as Director, she was Additional Managing Director of Madhya Pradesh Forest Development Corporation in Bhopal and has wide experience of working in various capacities in Government of Madhya Pradesh.
Dr Renu Singh has extensive experience in Forest Policy, Forest Management and Research Issues. She has special interest in gender and development, climate change adaptation and mitigation issues in the forestry sector. She has participated in and represented various biodiversity, forest and climate change related issues in international conventions like United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). As a field practitioner, she has vast experience of implementing joint forest management practices involving rural communities and addressing their livelihood related needs from forests while working in the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department.
The FRI will be enriched with her experience in formulation, execution and implementation of the forestry research work in national interest. It is a matter of pride for FRI that Dr Renu Singh has taken over as the second regular women Director, the first being Dr Savita.
While handing over charge as Director, FRI, AS Rawat welcomed Dr Renu Singh and briefed her on major activities of FRI. Thereafter, Dr Renu Singh had detailed discussions with various Head of Divisions of FRI and Registrar, FRI Deemed University. Additionally, the Forest Scientists’ Association (FoSA) under the Chairmanship of Dr Ashok Kumar, Scientist G, also welcomed Dr Renu Singh and expressed full support to her.
