Dr. G. N. Hariharan,  Executive Director – R&D and Govt. Affairs, Ph.D (Lichens) has been working with MSSRF for over 29 years. He began his career as a Scientist and his group’s scientific contributions to the lichens have opened up new avenues to explore the potentialities of the much-neglected lichens of our country and also to link the ecological security of lichen-rich locations with the livelihood security of the rural communities, who depend on lichen collections as Non-Timber Forest Produce.