Provastu6 at 07:45, 21 February 2026

2026-02-21T07:45:42Z

New page

{{Indian name|Kusala|Rajendran}}
{{short description|Indian seismologist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Kusala Rajendran
| native_name = കുസലാ രാജെന്ദ്രൻ
| native_name_lang =
| citizenship = Indian
| fields = Seismotectonics, paleoseismology, active tectonics
| workplaces = Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru
| alma_mater = University of South Carolina, USA
IIT, Roorkee
| thesis_year =
| website = http://ceas.iisc.ernet.in/~kusala/
| spouse = [[C. P. Rajendran]]
}}

'''Kusala Rajendran''' is an Indian seismologist and currently a professor at the Centre for Earth Sciences, [[Indian Institute of Science]], [[Bengaluru, India]]. She prefers to call herself an earth scientist. She has primarily worked on earthquakes and their source mechanisms. She has worked extensively on earthquake patterns in India and is considered to be one of the pioneers in this field.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/nepal-earthquake-strong-possibility-of-quake-in-central-himalayas-himachal-pradesh-in-high-strain-region-say-experts/articleshow/47076234.cms?from=mdr|title=Nepal Earthquake: Strong possibility of quake in Central Himalayas; Himachal Pradesh in high strain region, say experts | date=28 April 2015 | newspaper=The Economic Times| first=Anubhuti | last=Vishnoi | access-date=12 January 2019}}</ref>

== Research fields ==
Rajendran has been working in the following areas:<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ceas.iisc.ernet.in/~kusala/index.htm|title=Homepage at CEaS|access-date=5 February 2017|archive-date=8 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161208012937/http://ceas.iisc.ernet.in/~kusala/index.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Seismotectonics, Crustal Processes
* Role of Water in Faulting Process
* Paleoseismology, earthquake recurrence and active tectonics
* Tsunami recurrence and hazard evaluation

== Education and career ==
Rajendran has completed her Master of Technology in the field of Applied Geophysics from the [[Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee|Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee]] in 1979. She graduated from [[University of South Carolina]], USA with a Doctor of Philosophy in Seismology in the year 1992. Owing to the growing demand for well qualified seismologists at the time, she returned to India after completing her PhD. Additionally, as her son had become old enough then, she could travel around the world studying earthquakes with greater ease . She has worked extensively in [[Gujarat]], [[Maharashtra|Maharasthra]] and the [[Himalayas]]. She believes that India is a great potential earth science destination, considering that the Himalayas constitute of one of the most active plate collision boundary in the world. She has published around forty research papers in collaboration with her husband [[C. P. Rajendran|C.P. Rajendran]], a reputed Indian geologist, over the years.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thelifeofscience.com/2016/02/29/kusala/|title=Finding "Faults" with Kusala Rajendran|last=TLoS|date=2016-02-29|website=The Life of Science|access-date=2017-02-04}}</ref> She has led several projects as the principal investigator. Most of her projects are funded by the seismicity program of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) or the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://iisc.researchmedia.center/article/research-group-studying-earthquakes-and-other-disasters|title=Research group studying earthquakes and other disasters|publisher=Science Media Center @ IISc|access-date=2017-02-04|archive-date=4 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204170451/http://iisc.researchmedia.center/article/research-group-studying-earthquakes-and-other-disasters|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Rajendran has been a professor at the Center for Earth Sciences, [[Indian Institute of Science|IISc]] [[Bangalore|Bengaluru]], India since 2007. She develops her own teaching philosophy and methodology as there are hardly any prescribed textbooks in [[Geophysics]] for undergraduates.<ref name="iisc.researchmedia.center">{{Cite web|url=http://iisc.researchmedia.center/article/research-group-studying-earthquakes-and-other-disasters|title=Research group studying earthquakes and other disasters {{!}} Science Media Center @ IISc|website=iisc.researchmedia.center|language=en|access-date=2017-02-04|archive-date=4 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204170451/http://iisc.researchmedia.center/article/research-group-studying-earthquakes-and-other-disasters|url-status=dead}}</ref> She also work on earthquake recurrence, tsunami recurrence and hazard evaluations. Her work combines field observations and models developed in the lab. For field visits, she usually travels in groups to earthquake prone areas and places that have recently experienced an earthquake.<ref name="iisc.researchmedia.center"/>

== Family and personal life ==
Rajendran grew up in a conservative family where the children were usually married off after a bachelor's degree. The only reason the young Kusala, fresh out of her chemistry degree, was sent all the way from [[Thiruvananthapuram|Trivandrum, Kerala]], to [[Roorkee]], then-[[Uttar Pradesh]], was that her sister was working there. Though she was sent there to do her master's degree in chemistry, a chance encounter with a professor at the [[Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee|IIT-Roorkee]] campus led Kusala to the field of science that she would come to master over the next thirty years, geophysics.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thelifeofscience.com/2016/02/29/kusala/|title=Finding "Faults" with Kusala Rajendran|last=njinxs|date=2016-02-29|website=The Life of Science|access-date=2016-07-16}}</ref> Kusala is married to the Indian geologist [[C. P. Rajendran|C.P. Rajendran]]. Her son Rahul Pavanan is married to the Tamil actress [[Abhirami (actress, born 1983)|Abhirami]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/malayalam/movies/news/Abhirami-makes-a-bold-reentry-into-tinseltown/articleshow/30111025.cms|title=Times of India|last=Soman|first=Deepa|date=10 February 2014}}</ref>

== Awards ==
* In 1993 she was awarded the [[Krishnan Medal|Krishnan Gold Medal]] by the Indian Geophysical Union for her geophysics work.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://ceas.iisc.ernet.in/~kusala/index_files/Page356.htm|title=About Us|website=ceas.iisc.ernet.in|access-date=2016-07-16|archive-date=31 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170331232135/http://ceas.iisc.ernet.in/~kusala/index_files/Page356.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* She received the Tabor award in 1992 from the Department of Geological Sciences, University of South Carolina.<ref name=":0" />
* In 2019, she became a laureate of the [[Asian Scientist 100]] by the ''[[Asian Scientist]]''.
* Ranked as one of the top ten young researchers in the country by the "Outlook" Magazine (18 July 2005)<ref name=":0" />

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rajendran, Kusala}}
[[Category:Indian seismologists]]
[[Category:Scientists from Bengaluru]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Indian women earth scientists]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the Indian Institute of Science]]
[[Category:Women scientists from Karnataka]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian earth scientists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women scientists]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian women scientists]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian earth scientists]]
[[Category:Women seismologists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women physicists]]

Kusala Rajendran - Revision history

Provastu6 at 07:45, 21 February 2026