Dr. Prosanta Chakrabarty visiting a Honduran cave in 2012. (Image courtesy of Prosanta Chakrabarty)

 

Biologist Prosanta Chakrabarty (Ph.D. 2006) has been selected as a TED2018 Senior Fellow, joining a cast of change-makers from around the world selected for their extraordinary work and contributions to the TED community. As a Senior Fellow, he’ll participate in four additional TED events and may eventually deliver another talk from the TED stage. 

An associate professor and curator of icthyology at Louisiana State University’s College of Science, Chakrabarty earned a Ph.D. in LSA’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. He studies the evolution and biogeography of both freshwater and marine fishes. His short TED talk on cave-dwelling fish, recorded at the TED2016 conference, explains how sightless cave fishes provide biological insights into blindness as well as geological clues about the formation of the Earth’s continents. The talk has received more than a million views.

In addition to his research and teaching, Chakrabarty tweets at @PREAUX_FISH and is the author of A Guide to Academia: Getting into and Surviving Grad School, Postdocs and a Research Job (Wiley, 2011), which outlines the steps—and obstacles—students can expect to encounter when they take the plunge into graduate school. Science Magazine calls the book “useful to any scientist embarking on a career in academia.”

Founded in 2009, the TED Fellows program has 453 Fellows from 96 countries, whose talks have collectively been viewed more than 178 million times. In its nine-year history, the TED Fellows program has created a powerful, far-reaching network—made up of scientists, doctors, activists, artists, entrepreneurs, inventors, journalists, and beyond.

“We are proud that our 2018 Fellows comprise a truly global, cross-disciplinary group of individuals, each of whom has already had extraordinary impact in their fields,” says TED Fellows Deputy Director Shoham Arad. “They are boldly using technology, the arts, science, advocacy, and beyond to address some the most pressing topics of our day—including campus sexual assault, refugee health, a free and independent press, and climate change. We look forward to seeing what this remarkable group is able to build as a result of joining the Fellows program.”

 

 

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