You can view excerpts from this interview in our video link

Prof. S Ramachandran is a Marine Scientist. He has over 25 years of Research and about 15 years of Administrative experience in various capacities. His active interests are teaching, research and extension activities, especially related to Coastal and Marine Environment management. He has been awarded over twenty international Fellowships. He established the Institute of Ocean Management at Anna University. He has completed 42 research projects and currently twelve are in progress. His book on “Perspectives on Integrated Coastal Zone Management”, published by Springer, Germany is internationally recognised.

There are several coincidences in his life. His father, as a headmaster was in the field of education. His sister is a teacher. And, he is a Vice Chancellor. His subject was oceanography and his present room in the University overlooks the Bay of Bengal. He had his Doctorate in the longest Beach of the world, Miami and he is literally at the second longest beach of the world.

Born on April 18,1955 in a middle class family, at Tachanallur, Tirunelveli District, Tamil Nadu, he had his school education from MDT Hindu College School. He took his B.Sc from St.Xaviers College, Palayamkottai. He received his Masters in Marine Sciences from Annamalai University in 1977. He did his first Ph.D in Marine Sciences there with UGC's open pool merit Research Fellowship. He earned his second Ph.D in Oceanography in 1985 from the University of Miami, Florida, US. On his return from the US, he had a short stint as Scientific Pool Officer in the Madurai Kamaraj University, before he joined the Anna University as Asst. Professor in the Centre for Water Resources and Ocean Management. In 1993 he became a Professor, heading the Ocean Data Centre. In five years, he became the Director of the Institute for Ocean Management. In 2005, he assumed the position of Director, Centre for Research,Anna University. On September 6, 2006, he took over as the Vice-Chancellor of the prestigious Madras University.

In between two academic meetings at the ever-busy campus, Prof. S Ramachandran was happy to spend some time to interact with Chennaionline's H Ramakrishnan. Excerpts:

From Zoology that was his major in B Sc; how did he develop interest in oceanography?

“I had two options-either to go for M Sc (Zoology) or to go for Marine Biology which was an emerging subject. It was a field oriented subject too. In Annamalai University we were fortunate to have Prof. Seshayya, who took most of the classes on the beaches. It was oriented towards nature. We studied everything relating to oceanography in the PG Course. In our country it is still a developing subject.”

What is going to be future of oceanography?

“Oceans are going to be our future. It is a fascinating science. As you know, more than 70 per cent of the earth is covered by ocean. This should in fact be called the planet Ocean rather than the planet Earth. Say, in another twenty years, all of us will have to look to the ocean for everything. 97 per cent of water is in the ocean and only three per cent is in the earth. Since even the available fresh water on the earth is fast depleting, we are compelled to be dependent on the ocean. Desalination technology is fast becoming very affordable. We are going to have two major plants along the Chennai coast itself. The cost of conversion has now come down to four paise per litre. The gulf countries are getting their drinking water only from the ocean. Thus, in future all the water that we need would be coming from the ocean.

We will have to look to the ocean not only for water, but also for food, energy and minerals. What is available on earth is limited. So, we have to mine the ocean. I will give you one example. Take the deposit called hydride from which you can separate hydrogen. Hydrogen is a clean energy. If you burn it, it gives water, in combination with Oxygen. This hydride deposits in million of tonnes is available under the ocean.

“Similarly, if you take metals like copper, nickel, chromium, or iron, what is available on the land can be mined for another fifteen to twenty years, whereas what is available in the ocean would be enough for thousands of years. We are trying to mine them. This is the latest technology.

“As far as energy is concerned, hereafter we are going to use only renewable energy like wind energy and solar energy. Similarly, we can get energy from waves, from tides and thermo-energy, i.e. the difference in temperatures between the top and the bottom of the ocean. In Hawaii, there is an Ocean Thermo Energy Conversion (otec) plant and nearer home we have an otec plant in Lakshadweep. In each Kilometre tf coast, we can generate about five mw of power. We have a total of about 7,000 kilometers of coasts. This is locally generated and locally distributed. Thus, there will be no transmission loss. In another ten years that is going to be the major source of energy.”

Asked about his stint as Director of the Institute of Ocean Management in Anna University, he says, “Our main work was to help the fishermen by using remote sensing and to assess the marine resources and marine pollution. Work is also done on protecting the eco-system.”

How does he feel, occupying the highest seat of one of the most prestigious institutions?He doesn’t want to just sit on the past glory and laurels of this world renowned University. “As soon as I took over, I established six new centres which are contemporary. One is, of course his pet subject, the Centre for Coastal and Ocean Studies. Centres for Herbal Sciences, Environmental Science, Natural Hazard Management, Co-operation Studies, and Infrastructure Studies have also been started. I have also started twenty five new courses, which are all job oriented.”

He has also been revising the evaluation pattern, mainly to ensure that everything is automated, so that there is no malpractice in Examinations. He has enhanced the students’ fellowship amount. He is also taking steps to fill up all vacant positions of the teaching staff. He has also been concentrating on student and staff welfare. Another important programme he has introduced is imparting soft skills. He has for the first time conducted a placement programme in the University.

After he took over, he has opened ten international centres for the University. He has succeeded in improving the University’s income generation. He has also set up a corpus fund of Rs. 500 Crores, so that the University can be totally self-sufficient and self reliant. Chennaionline wishes him success in all his endeavours.

You can view excerpts from this interview in our video link