Dr. Chandrakant Salunkhe is Principal of Krishna Mahavidyalaya, Shivnagar, Rethare Bk., Maharashtra, India. An environmental scientist, botanist, and biodiversity conservation specialist, he has more than three decades of academic, research, and field experience in biodiversity conservation, botanical gardens, environmental sustainability, grass systematics, sacred groves, ethnobotany, herbal medicine, and nature-based education.

Dr. Salunkhe has served as Keynote Speaker, Plenary Speaker, Invited Speaker, Guest Lecturer, Session Chair, and Workshop Leader at numerous international conferences and academic events across Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. He has presented research as a sponsored delegate in Sweden, Japan, the United States, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Oman, Turkey, and China. In 2007, he chaired the SAARC Countries Botanic Garden Meeting during the 3rd Global Botanic Gardens Congress in Wuhan, China.

His research has made significant contributions to the in-situ and ex-situ conservation of threatened and endemic plant species of the Western Ghats, one of the world's biodiversity hotspots. He established the Jaywant Botanical Garden as a living laboratory for biodiversity conservation, sustainability education, ecological restoration, and ecotourism. In 2012, he organized the international symposium on The Role of Botanical Gardens in Addressing Social and Environmental Challenges of the 21st Century during the 13th Conference of the International Association of Botanical Gardens in Guangzhou, China. Driven by both research and academic interest, he has studied and visited many of the world's leading botanical gardens across Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and North America.

An internationally recognized expert in grass taxonomy, Dr. Salunkhe is the co-author of the book Grasses of Maharashtra. He has organized international training workshops on grass identification and taxonomy at Maasai Mara University, Kenya, and Brawijaya University, Indonesia, contributing to regional capacity building and international scientific collaboration.

Dr. Salunkhe has also led pioneering research on sacred groves in the Konkan region of Maharashtra, documenting and mapping 819 sacred groves and recording 645 flowering plant species. His work integrates biodiversity conservation with traditional ecological knowledge, cultural heritage, and community participation, demonstrating the importance of sacred groves as models for ecosystem conservation, sustainable livelihoods, and climate resilience in the Anthropocene. His ethnobotanical research has further documented indigenous medicinal knowledge, traditional healers, and the cultural practices associated with sacred landscapes.

As Principal Investigator, he has successfully completed two major research projects funded by the Government of India through the University Grants Commission and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, along with three minor projects funded by the University Grants Commission. He is currently leading a project on the ex-situ conservation and germplasm establishment of endemic grasses of Maharashtra, supported by the Maharashtra Gene Bank (Special Cell) of the Maharashtra State Biodiversity Board.

He has published 59 research papers in national and international peer-reviewed journals and has successfully guided seven candidates to the award of the Ph.D. degree and three candidates to the award of the M.Phil. degree. Through his research, teaching, international collaborations, and leadership in biodiversity conservation, he continues to promote botanical gardens, environmental education, community-based conservation, and sustainable landscape management at national and international levels.