Shailesh Nayak to become ISRO's Chairman temporarily

Currently he is the Secretary for Ministry of Earth Sciences

Ministry of Earth Sciences Secretary Shailesh Nayak (61) to hold additional charge of Secretary Department of Space. Conventionally, the Secretary of the Department has been the Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Isro sources said that Nayak is expected to hold the position till the time the Government find a person for the position to succeed K Radhakrishnan, who retired on December 31, 2014.

A senior official of Isro said the additional charge was given for a month.

Nayak is the Chair, Earth System Science Organization (ESSO) and Secretary to the Government of India for Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), since August 2008. He has been involved in programmes related to science of climate change, weather services, polar science, ocean science and modeling, ocean survey, resources, and technology.

 

He chaired an expert group and conceptualised to establish National GIS in the country. He joined the Space Applications Centre, ISRO in 1978 as a scientist, and subsequently elevated as the Director of Marine and Water Resources. Nayak was also involved in setting up tsunami warning system for the Indian Ocean in 2007 and pioneered the development of algorithms and methodologies for application of remote sensing to coastal and marine environment, generated baseline database of the Indian coast, and developed services for fishery and ocean state forecast..

He is Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bengaluru, and the International Society of Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing (ISPRS).