Felix Bast is a full professor at the Central University of Punjab, India. He also served as an expedition scientist for Indian Antarctic Mission 2016-17 and conducted research at Bharati Station and Maitri Station, Antarctica. Bast authored popular science book Voyage to Antarctica detailing his experiences as part of the Indian Antarctic Mission.[5] He served as a guest scientist at Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research, Bremen, Germany in 2018–19. Bast is a renowned algal taxonomist having discovered several new species from India and Antarctica. Species that he and his research team discovered include:
Acetabularia jalakanyakae (Dasycladales): A unicellular marine green algae from Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India[6]
Bryum bharatiense (Bryaceae): A moss species from East Antarctica that survive on penguin excrements[7]
Hypnea indica (Hypneaceae): A marine red alga from Tamil Nadu, India[8]
Hypnea bullata (Hypneaceae): A marine red alga from Gujarat, India[9]
Ulva paschima (Ulvaceae): A marine green alga from Indian West Coast[10]
Ulva uniseriata (Ulvaceae): A marine green alga from West Bengal, India[11]
Cladophora goensis (Cladophorales): A marine green alga from Goa, India[12]
In addition, he is the taxonomic authority of Monostroma kuroshiense, one of the extensively cultivated edible green algae in the Kuroshio coasts of southern Japan.[citation needed] As of 2023 nine research scholars have been awarded with PhD degrees under his supervision, and he served as Principal Investigator for 15 research grants with a combined amount of INR 2.13 Crore.
Bast founded Young Academy of India[13] and its nation-wide ideological matchmaking program MentX.[14] Young Academy of India is one of the largest young academies in the world, with over 15,000 active members. The YAI is a member organization of the International Science Council. At present, Bast is serving as the President of the YAI.
Bast is a known Science Communicator in India, with frequent contributions in Resonance, Science Reporter, The Hindu and so on.[15] He also releases an award-winning monthly science show called Curiosity through his YouTube Channel-one of the most popular yet non-monetized science-based channels from India.[16]
Bast is involved with SWAYAM, a flagship online education program of the Government of India as a coordinator of a post-graduate level course "Biostatistics and Mathematical Biology". In 2020, this course was ranked as the 7th best MOOC in the world.[17] As of 2023, the course had over 13,000 enrollees.
Bast is an elected fellow of the Linnean Society of London, the most prestigious society for taxonomists in the world. Bast is a member and expert panellist of the International Science Council, Paris- an apex body of science academies in the world.[18] In 2023 he was elected into International Science Council's Asia Pacific Focal Point as a member of advisory council. In 2022, he has become an expert member of International Union for Conservation of Nature. He served as an in-residence intern with the President of IndiaatRashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi in 2015 and received Inspired Teacher recognition- the highest recognition for university faculty in the Republic of India.[19] Other recognitions include:
Teaching Innovator Award from Ministry of Education, Government of India in 2019[20]
DST Inspire Faculty Award from Department of Science and Technology, Government of India,[21]
NAM-Leibniz Guest scientist award 2018 to do sabbatical at Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research, Bremen, Germany[22]
and Elected as national core committee representative of Indian National Young Academy of Sciences, New Delhi (2020)[23]
