India’s First Woman Botanist with a D.Sc.: Remembering Dr. E.K. Janaki Ammal

Born in Thalassery, Kerala, Dr. E.K. Janaki Ammal defied societal norms of the early 20th century to emerge as one of the world's leading botanists and cytogeneticists. She played a crucial role in making India self-reliant in sugar production through cross-breeding native sugarcane varieties, co-authored the seminal Chromosome Atlas of Cultivated Plants, and helped reorganize the Botanical Survey of India (BSI). This tribute traces her extraordinary journey—from earning her doctorate at the University of Michigan to actively defending Kerala's Silent Valley rain forests.