Retired as a Professor at the Centre for Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Science (IISc); Currently Honorary Consultant, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Centre of Excellence, IISc. Currently, serving as the treasurer of the Consortium for Sustainable Development treasurer, Higganum, Connecticut, USA.

Education: MTech (Applied Geophysics): Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India (formerly University of Roorkee); PhD: Department of Geological Sciences, University of South Carolina, USA.

Expertise: Earth and environmental sciences, natural disasters, teaching, science communication and outreach.

Experience

· PhD with nearly 35 years of research experience in various branches of geosciences. She developed various courses in Earth sciences at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Guided five PhD students, six MTech students and several undergraduate students.

· Published over 90 peer-reviewed research publications in various professional journals such as Nature, Bulletin of Seismological Society of America, Geophysical Research Letters, Tectonophysics, and Journal of Geophysical Research. Co-authored a book on earthquakes in the Indian subcontinent (Publisher Springer, 2022); Another popular co-authored book on earthquakes in India is in Press (Penguin Random House 2023)

· Formulated and executed several research projects, mostly on earthquakes and tsunamis, funded by Indian agencies, some with international collaboration

· Was awarded the Indian Geophysical Union Award (1992) and the first-ever national women scientist award (2018) by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India.

One of the Consortium of Sustainable Development (CSP) members, also serving as its Treasurer, Kusala Rajendran (Kusala), was a professor of Earth sciences at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, the premier research and education institute of India. A prominent earth science researcher, Kusala did her doctoral research at the University of South Carolina (USC), where she was presented with the Tabor Award in 1992 for the best student graduating each year. Her long career, devoted to earth science research and teaching, spans three organizations (USC, USA), the National Centre for Earth Science Studies (Trivandrum, India) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc, Bangalore, India). At the IISc, Kusala where she moved in 2007, she took the initiative to establish the new Centre for Earth Sciences and attracted funding (~ 120 million USD) for establishing the major laboratories, library, museum and other facilities. For the newly started bachelor’s in science program (2012), Kusala took the lead in developing a course on earth and environmental sciences for undergraduate students, which was very popular and motivated many students to follow multidisciplinary research requiring earth science. She also developed several graduate and undergraduate level courses- solid earth, geodynamics, plate tectonics, and natural hazards among them. Her students are doing well at various educational organizations - Harvard, Caltech, and the University of Alaska, among them. Kusala is passionate about the environment and loves to engage with students and civil society members to create awareness about anthropogenic influences, climate-change-related issues, and the need for developing sustainable development strategies, especially for socially and economically backward communities. She has been conducting several outreach programs to sensitize the public about these issues. Holding a journalism diploma, Kusala writes articles on science and the environment, both in English and her native language (Malayalam).