Prosanta Chakrabarty
Dr. Prosanta Chakrabarty is the E.K. Hunter Chair for Communication in Science Research, Professor and Curator of Fishes at the Museum of Natural Science and Department of Biological Sciences at Louisiana State University.
He is an ichthyologist studying the evolution of vertebrates and the biogeography of fishes; his work has taken him to more than 35 countries and he has described more than 15 species that are new to science including cavefishes and deep-sea fishes. He has published more than 150 scientific papers and four books including most recently ‘Explaining Life Through Evolution’ (MIT Press, 2023). He grew up in New York City, his undergraduate degree is from McGill University in Montreal (the city where he was born) and his PhD is from the University of Michigan. He is a former Program Director at the National Science Foundation, a National Geographic Certified Educator, a Fellow of the Linnean Society, a National Fellow of the Explorers Club, an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a TED Senior Fellow and a Fulbright Distinguished Chair. He is also Past President of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists and an executive board member of the National Center for Science Education.