Prof. Wasim Ahmad felicitated by the Zoological Society of India

*ALIGARH, January 9:* Prof. Wasim Ahmad of the Department of Zoology,
Aligarh Muslim University was recently felicitated by the Zoological Society
of India for his commendable research activities and outstanding
contribution in the field of Zoology at the 20th All India Congress of
Zoology, held at Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Mumbai recently.
The Zoology Congress was jointly organized by the Zoological Society of
India, the Helminthological Society of India and the Indian Fisheries
Association.

Prof. Ahmad is an internationally acknowledged expert on the taxonomy of
soil inhabiting nematodes of the Orders Dorylaimida, Mononchida and
Tylenchida. He has not only described several hundred new taxa of nematodes
from around the world but has also given new definition and classification
of higher taxonomic groups based on his morphological, ultra structural and
molecular studies. His recent studies on phylogenetic relationship of
mononchs using 18s rDNA sequence has given a new insight into the
classification of this group. He has also contributed significantly to the
functional diversity and food web diagnostics of soil inhabiting nematodes
in natural forests. The major part of his work has been published in top
nematology journals of the world, such as Nematologica/ Nematology from The
Netherlands; Revue de Nematologie/ Fundamentals and Applied Nematology from
France; International Journal of Nematology from UK; Journal of Nematode
Morphology and Systematics from Spain Nematologea Mediterranea from Italy
and Journal of Natural History, UK His monumental book entitled "Dorylaimida;
Free-living, predaceous and plant parasitic nematodes" published by RJ
Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands is a unique world-wide reference for study of
dorylaim nematodes. A similar treatise by him on Mononchida has just been
published by EJ Brill, The Netherlands. He has visited a large number of
countries of the world as an expert for the study of dorylaim and mononchid
nematodes and is recipient of prestigious visiting fellowships from Royal
Society (London). DFG (Germany), TWAS (Italy), JSPS (Japan), Erasmus Mundus
(European Union), CAS (China), KOSEF (Korea), RMBR (Singapore), and many
others. He is on the editorial board of several prestigious journals
published from India and abroad and is reviewer of papers published in most
of the Nematology Journals of the world. Prof. Ahmad is a Fellow of the
National Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the Linnaean Society of
London.