Dr. Rishi Indra Singh Gill obtained Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Forestry from the Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana in 1990 and 1992, respectively. He started his career in 1993 as Assistant Professor Forestry at PAU. He was awarded ‘Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship’ in 1998 for doing a Doctoral degree from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. Upon successful completion of Doctoral degree, he was promoted to Scientist (Agroforestry) in 2002 and joined as ‘Officer in charge’ (OIC) AICRP on Agroforestry project in 2003, and Principal Scientist (Agroforestry) in 2009.

Dr Gill has vast administrative experience in different capacities. He served as Head, Department of Forestry & Natural Resources for a full term of 4 years (2014-2018). He was Technical Advisor to Vice Chancellor for 8 years (2014-2022). He has also attended ‘Leadership for Academicians Programme’ (LeAP) funded by the Ministry of Human Resources Development, GOI which included training at the University of Hyderabad, India and at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. In addition, he has exposure to various international organizations/countries such as the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; University of Victoria, Canada; University of Melbourne, Australia; Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Canberra, Australia; Monash University, Australia; Kathmandu, Nepal; Singapore; Malaysia and Montpellier, France.

Dr. Gill has made significant contributions in research, teaching and extension activities of PAU. His salient research contributions include 19 recommendations comprising of 2 poplar clones, 4 eucalyptus clones, 2 Dek varieties and 11 production technologies that have been included in Package and Practices of forest trees. In addition, he has successfully completed seven research projects in the field of agroforestry, biomass production, tree improvement, tree borne oilseeds and sewage effluent management from various funding agencies like the Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC), NOVOD Board, Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA), ICFRE Dehradun, AusAID, etc. He has published 16 book chapters and several research papers in journals of national and international repute.

Dr. Gill has been actively involved with the teaching of UG and PG courses in forestry, biotechnology and environment. He has guided 14 M.Sc. Forestry, 2 M.Sc. Biotechnology students and developed 3 course manuals. Dr. Gill has also made a significant contribution to the field of extension. He has organized 12 national and 3 international training programmes on various aspects of agroforestry. He has delivered 70 lectures as a resource person, 35 radio/ TV talks, and contributed 18 popular articles and 7 bulletins.

In addition, Dr. Gill has been involved in extra-curricular activities such as In-charge NCC of the College of Agriculture and Agricultural Engineering and Technology (1997-98 and 2003-06, respectively), Treasurer Alumni Association (2010-11), Secretary / President PAU shooting committee, Chief Warden, Boys (2014-2021) and College Coordinator of University Counseling and Placement Guidance Cell.

Dr Gill’s contribution in research, teaching and extension over a span of two decades has earned him various recognition at local and national level.