Late Prof. Krishnamurthy

Location
Chennai
INDIA
First meeting
2010, October 22nd
Last update
Prof V. Krismurthy passed away on May 9th, 2014.
Keywords
seaweed biodiversity of India, seaweed cultivation, life history of Porphyra

While in Chennai, I was fortunate to meet Late Pr. Krishnamurthy. Even at the age of 90, I was surprised that he would introduce himself as a student! He was indeed a student of famous scientists: the late Pr. M.O.P Iyengar, the father of Indian Phycology, and the late Dr. Kathleen Drew-Baker, a British phycologist from the University of Manchester (see more information below). Pr. Krishnamurthy was a pioneering phycologist in India and promoted algal research for more than six decades. He published numerous books and was still working on some when he passed away on May the 9th in 2014. You can watch his full interview in the video below.

About Pr Krisnamurthy’s Professor, Dr. Kathleen Drew-Baker

Kathleen Drew-Baker

The seaweed Porphyra umbilicalis is the species commonly known as nori. These algae are used for making sushi and their cultivation represents an important commercial market, particularly in Japan, China and Korea. Before the 1950s, production were very irregular. Dr. Kathleen Drew-Baker studied the life history of Porphyra umbilicalis and discovered a microscopic stage in the life cycle of this alga. This understanding of the biology of the species was a crucial milestone in the improvement of cultivation techniques and the development of large scale nori cultivation. Dr. Kathleen Drew-Baker is remembered as the “Mother of the Sea” in Japan and the Drew-Baker Festival is celebrated every year on the 14th April in Kumamoto near the statue which was erected in her honor.