Dhriti Banerjee has become the first woman to be appointed as the director of the 105-year old Zoological Survey of India (ZSI).<br />Dhriti Banerjee believes ZSI’s 100-year legacy would help her catapult the organisation to greener and futuristic heights,<br />in biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.<br />The 51 year-old has had an illustrious career as a scientist,<br />conducting research in taxonomy,<br />zoogeography, morphology and molecular systematics.<br />She has been coordinator of ZSI’s Digital Sequence Information Project since 2012.<br />Banerjee says that even though there are more women in STEM fields today<br />around the world and in India,<br />maybe women were not encouraged enough to think that they would be able to compete for such posts.<br />She added that competing for such posts requires training the psyche, which involves training to believe in yourself.<br />Banerjee's area of focus is Diptera or true flies.<br />Diptera helps farmers by enriching soil and controlling pests.<br />They act as signals of climate change,<br />they can even assist (albeit unknowingly) in forensic investigations.<br />
