Prof. Dr. Shamita Kumar, Principal at the Institute of Environment Education and Research, Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University, Pune (BVIEER). Having completed over 20 research projects, policy documents she has received several  accolades, including the prestigious Erasmus Plus Grant from the German Government, a DAAD Scholarship, Fullbright Nehru IEA award, and was  recognized among the top 75 women in STEAM by the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor, Government of India, during the 75th year of India’s Independence. In addition to her role at BVIEER, she is a distinguished Guest Faculty at the University of Cologne, Germany.

Dr. Kumar is a  member of the Expert Committee on Capacity Building for Geospatial Technologies within the National Geospatial Program (NGP) of the Department of Science and Technology. Currently, she serves as the National Coordinator for Geospatial Capacity Building at NGP-DST. With over three decades of expertise in capacity building, geoinformatics, landscape ecology, biodiversity science and policy, and sustainable development, Dr. Kumar’s has an unwavering dedication and genuine passion for fostering spatial thinking.