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Brief Bio
Brief Bio
Prof. Felix Bast is a Professor of Botany at the Central University of Punjab, an Antarctic expedition scientist, and a public science communicator. He earned his Ph.D. in Marine Biology as a MEXT Scholar in Japan and completed research appointments at Friday Harbor Laboratories (USA) and the Marine Biological Association (UK).
An active field biologist, Prof. Bast has discovered seven new marine and plant species, including Bryum bharatiense, an extremophile moss discovered during the Indian Antarctic Expedition. His laboratory focuses on molecular phylogenetics, marine ecology, and biological discovery, resulting in over 135 peer-reviewed papers, 6 books, and 17 competitive research grants. He has supervised 18 Ph.D. scholars to date.
Prof. Bast received the "President’s Inspired Teacher" recognition from the President of India in 2015 and the Teaching Innovator Award in 2020. He is an elected Fellow of the Linnean Society of London, serves on global advisory bodies for the International Science Council (Paris) and the IUCN (Geneva), and is a member of the UN-SDG-7 Reference Group shaping sustainable energy policy.
As a science communicator, he creates educational content on YouTube to combat pseudoscience, promote evidence-based reasoning, and demystify research for the public. He is an advocate for low-carbon living, an active cyclist, and a registered posthumous organ donor.
BBC Coverage of my Antarctic Discovery: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-57732014
The Guardian (UK) coverage of my Acetabularia discovery: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/31/discovered-in-the-deep-the-mermaids-wineglass-algae-acetabularia-jalakanyakae
BBC Coverage of Acetabularia Discovery https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-58240416
Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Bast
Rehman, W.U, Gupta, K and Bast, F. (2021). Morpho-phylogenetic assessment of a new moss species Bryum bharatiense Sp. Nov. (Bryaceae) from Larsemann Hills, Eastern Antarctica Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity https://doi.org/10.1016/j.japb.2021.07.001
Saini, K.C., Madhu, A., Kohli, R.K., Gupta, K. And Bast, F. (2021) Morpho-molecular assessment of Acetabularia jalakanyakae Sp. Nov. (Dasycladales, Chlorophyta)- a new species from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. Indian Journal of Geo-Marine Sciences. 50 (09) DOI: 10.56042/ijms.v50i09.42756
Kundu, P. and Bast, F. (2021). Molecular data reveals two new species of Hypnea (Cystocloniaceae, Rhodophyta) from India: Hypnea indica sp. nov. and Hypnea bullata sp. nov. Botanica Marina 64(2): Accepted.
Bast F, Rani P. (2019) “First report of uniseriate free-living Ulva species, with description of new species Ulva uniseriata sp. nov (Chlorophyta, Ulvales).” Indian Journal of Geo-Marine Sciences 48(11) 1687-1691
Bast F, John AA, Bhushan S. (2014) Strong endemism of bloom-forming tubular Ulva in Indian west coast, with description of Ulva paschima Sp. Nov. (Ulvales, Chlorophyta). PLoS ONE 9(10): e109295. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0109295
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