P.K. Nair was born in Kerala, India. He has a Ph.D. in agronomy from Pantnagar Agricultural University, India; and a Dr. Sc. agr. degree from Goettingen University, Germany (where he was a Senior Humboldt Fellow). He has been a post-doctoral fellow at Rothamsted, England.

Dr. Nair is the director of the UF/IFAS/SFRC Center for Subtropical Agroforestry (CSTAF) that was established in March 2001 mainly through a nearly $ 4 million USDA competitive grant received under his leadership. Before joining the School in 1987, he worked for nine years in Nairobi, Kenya, with the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) (now, World Agroforestry Centre), of which he is one of the founders. Prior to that he worked for five years in southern India where he developed the multistory cropping system with tree crops, which would later become an example of the sustainable multistrata agroforestry systems of the tropics. 

Twenty Ph D (see list of dissertations supervised) and 27 Master students have graduated under his supervision from SFRC/IFAS/UF a few several are in progress; and he has served on 50 other graduate student committees. His current research is focused on biophysical aspects of agroforestry systems including soil productivity, carbon sequestration, environmental quality, component interactions and agroforestry system design and evaluation. He has extensive international experience in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America. He holds affiliate faculty appointments in the School of Natural Resources and Environment, Department of Agronomy, the Soil & Water Science Department, and the Centers for African and Latin American Studies.

Professor Nair has been the Editor-in-Chief of Agroforestry Systems during 1994 – 2005. Currently he is the series editor of Advances in Agroforestry book-series (Springer Science). He also served as a consulting editor of Plant and Soil for six years. He has authored and edited several books and published prolifically in international scientific journals (Publications). He was the chairman of the Global Organizing Committee (GOC) for the 1st World Congress of Agroforestry, 27 June to 02 July 2004, Orlando, Florida (http://conference.ifas.ufl.edu/WCA). Currently he is the co-chair of the GOC for the 2 ^nd World Congress of Agroforsetry, Nairobi, Kenya, 23-28 August 2009 ( http://worldagroforestry.org/wca2009)

Recent Awards and Recognitions:

Humboldt Prize, 2006 (Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany)

Honorary Doctor of Science Degrees from:

University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain, 2008
University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, 2006
University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, 2005
Kyoto University, Japan, 2002

Medal for Distinguished Global Leadership in Agroforestry from the BBSMR Agricultural University,
Gazipur, Bangladesh, 2007
Faculty Achievement Honoree, University of Florida, 2007
Fulbright Senior Specialist Award  2005 (2005 to 2010)
IUFRO (International Union of Forest Research Organizations) Scientific Achievement Award, 2005
Dissertation Mentoring/Advising Award, University of Florida, 2005-2006.
Distinguished International Educator of the Year, University of Florida , 2004
University of Florida Research Foundation Professorship  2004 to 2006
Barrington Moore Award, Society of American Foresters, 2004
International Crop Science Award, Crop Science Society of America, 2004
International Award of Merit, Gamma Sigma Delta Honor Society of Agriculture, Florida Chapter, 2002 
International Soil Science Award, Soil Science Society of America, 2001 
Outstanding Scientist of the Year, Association of Agri. Scientists of Indian Origin (N. America), 2001 
Graduate Teacher and Advisor of the Year 2000-2001, IFAS, University of Florida, 2001
International Agronomy Award, American Society of Agronomy, 2000.

Fellow of:

American Association for the Advancement of Science;
American Society of Agronomy;
Crop Science Society of America;
National Academy of  Agricultural Sciences, India;
Soil Science Society of America; 
World Innovation Foundation, U.K.

Degrees:

Dr.Sc. - University of Gottingen, Germany (1978)
Ph.D. - Pantnagar Agricultural University, India (1971)
M.S. - Kerala University,India (1968)
B.S. - Kerala University,India (1961)

Courses Currently Taught:

Agroforestry
International Forestry   
Agroforestry Graduate Program
Research
Publications