Madhav Gadgil, known for his report on the Gadgil Commission is a field ecologist whose scientific research has ranged over ecology, evolutionary biology, conservation biology, ecological history and studies of humans as agents of ecological change. He has to his credit 220 scientific papers that include 2 citation classics. Stepping out of the ivory tower, he has worked extensively with people at the grass-roots, as well as policy makers, written newspaper columns and several books in English and Marathi for the general reader, including two, ‘This Fissured Land: an ecological history of India’ and ‘Ecology and Equity’ co-authored with Ramchandra Guha. His books have been translated in Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, Hindi, Gujarati and Chinese. ent of Honorary Fellowships by British and American Ecological Societies.
His awards include Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award for Biological Sciences of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research 1986 and the Vikram Sarabhai Award of the Indian Council of Social Science Research 1990. He has served on several Government of India advisory panels including the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India 1986-89, Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel 2010-11 and National Advisory Council 2010-12. He was the chairman of the Global Environment Facility’s Science and Technology Advisory Panel during 1998-2002. The President of India has conferred on him Padma Shri 1981 and Padma Bhushan 2006.