Mycological Society of India, Chennai honours Prof Yash with Dr. K. Natarajan Memorial Award

Prof Yash Pal Sharma, Former Head, Department of Botany and the Rector, Udhampur Campus, University of Jammu was conferred on the prestigious Prof. K Natarajan Memorial Award by the Mycological Society of India (MSI), Chennai during its Golden Jubilee 50th Annual Meeting and the international Conference on“Biodiversity, Biotechnology and Bioprospects of Fungi for Agricultural, Industrial and Environmental Sustainability” organized by Centre for Advanced Studies (CAS) in Botany, University of Madras, Chennai (Tamil Nadu)from March 06-08, 2024.The award is constituted in the memory of Late Prof. K Natarajan a world renowned mycologist and one of the founding members of the CAS in Botany, University of Madras.Prof.Umesh Rai, the Vice Chancellor, University of Jammu has congratulated Prof Sharma for bringing laurels to the University of Jammu

This honour was given to Prof. Sharma in recognition of his significant contributions to the study of wild mushrooms found in the north west Himalayas of Jammu and Kashmir and, Ladakh. Significantly, using integrated approaches of morphology and molecular phylogeny, Dr. Yash and his team of research scholars have discovered and described more than 15 species of mushrooms that are new to science. In addition, a number of new mushroom species have been identified as new records for the Indian mycobiota.Additionally, a number of native edible mushrooms with economic, ecological, and medicinal significance are being domesticated and cultivated by Prof. Sharma and his associates, as well as their biochemical analysis. Numerous prestigious worldwide publications, such as Persoonia, Mycosphere, Nordic Journal of Botany, Nova Hedwigia, CREAM, Studies in Fungi, Indian Phytopathology, Karsteenia, FeddesRepertorium, etc., have published all of this work.