Dr. Pratap Kumar Mohanty was a Professor at the Marine Sciences Department and presently the Member, Appellate Authority, Forest, Environment and Climate Change Department, Govt. of Odisha.
He obtained his Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. He has been in the teaching profession for more than 35 years. He became a full time Professor in 2007. Professor Mohanty was a Commonwealth Fellow (U.K) and worked at University of Reading, U.K. during 2006-2007.
Professor Mohanty was a Visiting Scientist at the Walker Institute, University of Reading, U.K. from July-September, 2007 and at the Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo from February to March, 2004.
He has to his credit more than 120 research publications in reputed journals, edited volumes and conference proceedings with citations of more than 1110, h-index-21 and i10-index-31. Most of his publications are in the fields of monsoon studies, coastal processes, climate change, water quality prediction and extreme weather events. Professor Mohanty has edited two books of which one has been published by Springer, concerning the “Monitoring and Modelling of Lakes and Coastal Environments”.
He has collaborated with overseas scholars in various publications and research projects. He has successfully completed more than fourteen research, development and consultancy projects funded by DOS, DST, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Ministry of Shipping, Govt. of India, Gopalpur Ports Ltd, KWEF, Japan, etc. Professor Mohanty has participated in more than 15 different international conferences held in UK, China, Japan, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand etc.
He has delivered several invited lecturers in different overseas universities and research institutes (like Loyal Society London, Monash University, CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology, Australia, Cambridge University, Plymouth University, Reading University, UK and East China Normal University, China etc.), and also in different universities/institutes in India. He is the reviewer of many international and national journals of repute.
Professor Mohanty was the Organising Secretary of an International Conference “LAKE-2004” held at Bhubaneswar during December 9-13, 2004. Professor Mohanty is a Member of the State Coastal Zone Management Authority, Odisha and also served as a Member of the State Expert Appraisal Committee, Govt. of Odisha during Dec., 2015 to September, 2022. He was UGC nominee for Banki Autonomous College, Banki, Odisha and Member of the State Level Monitoring Committee under NCEF of Govt. of India.
He is a Member of Water Resources Department, Govt. of India. He is also a Life Member of the Indian Meteorological Society, Ocean Society of India and Odisha Bigyana Academy.
Thirteen scholars have already received Ph.D. under the supervision of Professor Mohanty. He has shouldered many important responsibilities in the Berhampur University such as Head of the Department, Dean of Faculty (Science and Technology), Member Syndicate, Director, College Development Council, Director, Human Resource Development Centre, Director, IQAC, Director, Innovation-cum-Incubation Centre, Registrar and Chairman, Post Graduate Council.