Zahoor Ahmad Kaloo

Professor Zahoor Ahmad Kaloo is a Professor of Botany at the University of Kashmir with over 25 years of teaching and research experience. He served as the Head of the Department of Botany and Honorary Director of the Centre of Biodiversity and Taxonomy, University of Kashmir, from 2021 to 2024. He is a Member of the Wildlife Board for the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir and serves on the Expert Committee of the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) for monitoring research projects. In addition, he is associated with several reputed scientific societies. His research primarily focuses on in vitro propagation, conservation biotechnology, and phytochemical studies of endangered Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAPs) of the Kashmir Himalayas. He has published 101 research articles, six book chapters, and several research reports, receiving 1,017 citations with an h-index of 18 and an i10-index of 28. He has supervised 15 Ph.D. scholars, 16 M.Phil. scholars, and three postdoctoral researchers, and has successfully completed nine research projects funded by various national agencies. In the field of Orchidology, Professor Kaloo initiated systematic research in 2010 focusing on the diversity and conservation of orchids in the Kashmir Himalayan region. Over the past sixteen years, his work has included extensive surveys and documentation of orchid species, collection and transplantation of different species to the Kashmir University Botanical Garden (KUBG), and the development of efficient agrotechnical practices for their cultivation. His studies have evaluated habitat diversity and phenotypic variability in relation to altitude and have standardized protocols for efficient in vitro seed germination. Further investigations have addressed seed morphometry, reproductive strategies, genetic diversity, and the ethnomedicinal importance of selected species. Through his research, Oreorchis micrantha Lindl., Dactylorhiza umbrosa (Kar. & Kir.) Nevski, and Goodyera fusca (Lindl.) Hook. f. have been added to the orchid flora of the Kashmir Himalaya.