Director, People's Science Institute




			Dr. Ravi Chopra
		Director, People's Science Institute

	Home Town: Dehra Dun, Uttarakhand

	Dr Ravi Chopra is the Director of People's Science Institute, Dehra Doon and a Managing Trustee of Himalaya Foundation, New Delhi. The Institute, a non-profit public interest research and development organization, is known for its innovative work in the areas of water resources management, environmental quality monitoring and disaster mitigation and response.


At PSI, Dr Chopra and his colleagues have pioneered creative approaches to put science and technology in the service of India’s poorest people. A key element in their approach is to build the capacities of the poor to plan their own development, implement projects and then manage the assets created. As a researcher, Ravi Chopra has focused on the interactions between technology and society and, environment and development. He first received national recognition when he helped produce the first citizens' report on the The State of India's Environment in 1982. This report was critically acclaimed as "a unique effort anywhere in the world". His recent analysis of India's water requirements in the 21st century has also attracted attention. It specifies the nature of India's water crises and sustainable methods for resolving them. In recognition of this work, Dr Chopra was made a member of the Working Group on Perspective Planning, National Commission for Integrated Water Resources Development in the 21st Century, Government of India. Ravi Chopra has worked for nearly four decades in the field of development and has helped establish several pioneering organizations. The issues addressed by them include involving youth in India’s development, using science and technology for empowering the poor, protection of democratic and human rights, rehabilitating survivors of natural and human-made disasters and creative education of children, including the mentally handicapped. Dr Chopra has been a member of several committees of the Ministries of Rural Development and Water Resources, Government of India and the Planning Commission. He is a consultant to various national and international agencies and is a popular speaker on the lecture circuit in India and abroad. He has authored or co-authored 14 books and special reports. He has published more than 20 papers. In 2007 the International Service Society, Lansing, Michigan (USA) bestowed its Lifetime Achievement Award on him. Earlier in 1997 Indians for Collective Action in California had honoured him for his work on water resources development and community service. Born on April 14, 1947 Dr Chopra got his technical education in Metallurgical & Materials Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay) and Stevens Institute of Technology, New Jersey. He is married to Jo McGowan, an activist in her own right. They have three wonderful children. They live in Dehra Doon in a house that has a 40 kiloliters roof rainwater harvesting tank.