K Manjusha

Dr K. Manjusha received her PhD in Microbiology from Cochin University of Science and Technology. She worked as Assistant Professor in Microbiology in St. Xavier’s College for Women, Aluva, Kerala for 8 years before joining Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies as Assistant Professor in 2019. She is currently the Coordinator of the Post Graduate programme in Marine Microbiology at the University. Dr. Manjusha has over 14 years of teaching experience. She was the Coordinator (Indian side) of Internationalisation at Home in Science Education programme funded by the Alberta Ministry of Education, Alberta, Canada. She is a Board of Studies member of Mahatma Gandhi University and St.Teresa’s College in Kerala. Dr. Manjusha has been actively involved in curriculum restructuring at both graduate and post graduate level. She is also in the panel examiners of several universities. Dr. Manjusha’s research interests include bioactive substance from bacteria, diversity and bio-prospecting potentials of yeasts mainly from mangroves. Her research focuses on building a baseline data on the diversity of yeasts associated with the mangroves of central Kerala and understanding the basis of the interactions between yeasts and their hosts especially their roles in plant growth promotion. She has been investigating the effect of natural disasters on yeast diversity and also exploring the bio-prospecting potentials of these unicellular eukaryotic forms. Dr. Manjusha has carried out a major research project on the “Diversity and Biotic Potential of Yeasts from the Mangroves of Central Kerala” funded by Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment and a minor project on ‘A study on the diversity of manglicolous yeasts of KUFOS campuses’ a KUFOS Aided Funded Project (KARP) (2020-21) .