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Ashok Kumar Singhvi (born 2^nd November 1950) is the former Dean of Physical Research Laboratory, India. He is a Vice-President of the Indian National Science Academy (2014-) . He previously served as the President of the Luminescence Society of India (1990-92), and the Gujarat Science Academy (2010-2018) .

His field of specialization is Geophysics, Quaternary Sciences and Quantitative Geomorphology. He helped develop the technique of thermoluminescence dating, a method to measure processes on geological timescales.. For his contributions to quaternary geosciences, Singhvi has been the recipient of several national and international awards including the Farouk El-Baz Award (Geological Society of America), the National Mineral Award (Ministry of Mines, Government of India), the Decennial Award (Indian Geophysical Union), and the K. Naha Medal (Indian National Science Academy).

Education

Singhvi graduated with an MSc from Jodhpur University, Rajasthan. He was awarded a PhD (Nuclear Physics) (1976) from Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur for studies on hyperfine interaction, Mossbauer spectroscopy and nuclear reactions. He joined the Geosciences Group at the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad, India in 1976 as a postdoctoral fellow, where he first began application of his spectroscopy expertise to minerals for understanding paleoclimates.

From 1977-78, he worked with Dr. Martin Aitkin at Keble College, University of Oxford, UK as a Ford Foundation Fellow as one of the early entrants to the field of thermoluminescence dating. He contributed to its methodological development and applications to geochronology.

Research

Singhvi returned to India joined PRL as an Assistant Professor in 1978. Using methods and instrumentation that he designed, he developed the application of themol-uminescence dating to desert drylands to understand paleoclimate at geomorphic timescales ^[1] ^[2]. Starting with analyses of sediments in the Thar desert, Singhvi expanded the application of thermoluminescence dating to document landscape system responses across other hot and cold deserts in India and across the globe ^[3] ^[4]. These studies, among others, led to the understanding that expansion and contractions of deserts was not synchronous, and to the concepts of “response time” of landforms and the “windows of opportunity” for creating a sedimentary record. This has provided insights into monsoon trajectories, the birth of deserts, wind patterns and tsunamis across multiple regions of the earth including Antartica, United States, Namib and Saharan Desert in Africa, Thar Desert in India and the Gobi Desert in China.

Other applications he developed for this technique include dating of costal deposits, pedogenic carbonates, glacial ice, fulgurites, meteorites, and geological faults among others^a-e. Singhvi has also adapted thermoluminescence dating to studies dispersal and paleolithic tool development of modern humans ^[5] ^[6].

Singhvi set up the first luminescence dating laboratory in India at PRL . He has since helped establish thirteen luminescence dating laboratories, with nine being in India. He has trained 14 PhD students and 12 postdoctoral scientists. He has authored over 200 articles in peer reviewed journals (3500+ citations), edited/authored about 12 conference proceedings/books including two INSA reports to the International Union of Geological Sciences . He has led multiple major national programs. These include a National program on the Evolution of Thar Desert ( Department of Science and Technology, India); on the Geological History of Tsunamis along the Indian coasts (Ministry of Earth Sciences, India) and on the Palaeoclimatic record of the Indian Sub continent.

Singhvi has led two International Geological Correlation Programmes (IGCP 349 and 413) for UNESCO, dealing with deserts, paleo-monsoons and evolution. For his contributions, Singhvi was awarded the Krishnan Medal (1988), Farouk El-Baz Award by the Geological Society of America (2003), National Mineral Award by the Government of India (2004), the K. Naha Medal of the Indian National Science Academy (2006), the Goyal Prize of Kurukshetra University (2009), the S.M. Khaitan Medal by the Asiatic Society (2012), and the JC Bose National Fellowship (2012-17), among others.

Singhvi serves on the Editorial boards of six international journals and as a Council member of INSA (2006- ) and the Program Advisory committee for Ministry of Earth Sciences (GeoSciences segment). He is also on the advisory council for the Geological Survey of India and the Archaeological Survey of India.

He previously served on the Scientific Steering Committee of IGBP-Global Changes-PAGES Core Project, as Advisor to the UNESCO sponsored Cultural Triangle Training Program, Executive Committee of UNESCO/ICSU – International year of the earth Program, and Member of the International Ocean Drilling Program Evaluation Panel as the Indian representative. He also served as the Chair of the Research Advisory Committee (RAC) of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun and the Birbal Sahni Institute, Lucknow. He led the Indian delegation to IUGS in 2004 and 2008 and India’s membership of the International Quaternary Union (INQUA).

Singhvi has been a Ford Foundation Fellow (University of Oxford and University of Missouri-St. Louis); A.v. Humboldt Fellow (University of Heidelberg), Lever Hulme Fellow (University of Sheffield), DFG Professor (University of Freiberg), Academy Professor (Sao Paulo) and Visiting Professor (USGS Denver).

Awards and Honors

Krishnan Medal (1988),
National Mineral Award (2004),
Farouk El-Baz Award by the Geological Society of America (2003),
Decennial Medal by the Indian Geophysical Union (2006)
K Naha Medal (2007).
Vice President, Indian National Science Academy
President, Gujarat Science Academy
President, Luminescence Society of India
Fellow, Academy of Sciences for the Developing World
Fellow, Geological Society of India
Fellow, Indian Geophysical Union
Fellow, Indian Academy of Sciences
Fellow, Bangalore, National Academy of Sciences (India), Allahabad

References

^ Singhvi, A. K.; Sharma, Y. P.; Agrawal, D. P. (January 1982). [doi.org/10.1038/295313a0 "Thermoluminescence dating of sand dunes in Rajasthan, India"]. Nature. 295 (5847): 313–315. doi:10.1038/295313a0. ISSN 0028-0836. {{cite journal}}: Check |url= value (help)
^ Singhvi, A.K.; Mejdahl, V. (January 1985). [doi.org/10.1016/0735-245X(85)90020-1 "Thermoluminescence dating of sediments"]. Nuclear Tracks and Radiation Measurements (1982). 10 (1–2): 137–161. doi:10.1016/0735-245X(85)90020-1. {{cite journal}}: Check |url= value (help)
^ Singhvi, A. K.; Sharma, Y. P.; Agrawal, D. P. (January 1982). "Thermoluminescence dating of sand dunes in Rajasthan, India". Nature. 295 (5847): 313–315. doi:10.1038/295313a0. ISSN 1476-4687.
^ Singhvi, A.K.; Mejdahl, V. (January 1985). [doi.org/10.1016/0735-245X(85)90020-1 "Thermoluminescence dating of sediments"]. Nuclear Tracks and Radiation Measurements (1982). 10 (1–2): 137–161. doi:10.1016/0735-245X(85)90020-1. {{cite journal}}: Check |url= value (help)
^ Glennie, K.W; Singhvi, A.K (March 2002). [doi.org/10.1016/S0277-3791(01)00133-0 "Event stratigraphy, paleoenvironment and chronology of SE Arabian deserts"]. Quaternary Science Reviews. 21 (7): 853–869. doi:10.1016/S0277-3791(01)00133-0. {{cite journal}}: Check |url= value (help)
^ Bateman, Mark D; Frederick, Charles D; Jaiswal, Manoj K; Singhvi, Ashok K (May 2003). [doi.org/10.1016/S0277-3791(03)00019-2 "Investigations into the potential effects of pedoturbation on luminescence dating"]. Quaternary Science Reviews. 22 (10–13): 1169–1176. doi:10.1016/S0277-3791(03)00019-2. {{cite journal}}: Check |url= value (help)

[1] Singhvi, A. K.; Sharma, Y. P.; Agrawal, D. P. (January 1982). [doi.org/10.1038/295313a0 "Thermoluminescence dating of sand dunes in Rajasthan, India"]. Nature. 295 (5847): 313–315. doi:10.1038/295313a0. ISSN 0028-0836. {{cite journal}}: Check |url= value (help)

[2] Singhvi, A.K.; Mejdahl, V. (January 1985). [doi.org/10.1016/0735-245X(85)90020-1 "Thermoluminescence dating of sediments"]. Nuclear Tracks and Radiation Measurements (1982). 10 (1–2): 137–161. doi:10.1016/0735-245X(85)90020-1. {{cite journal}}: Check |url= value (help)

[3] Singhvi, A. K.; Sharma, Y. P.; Agrawal, D. P. (January 1982). "Thermoluminescence dating of sand dunes in Rajasthan, India". Nature. 295 (5847): 313–315. doi:10.1038/295313a0. ISSN 1476-4687.

[4] Singhvi, A.K.; Mejdahl, V. (January 1985). [doi.org/10.1016/0735-245X(85)90020-1 "Thermoluminescence dating of sediments"]. Nuclear Tracks and Radiation Measurements (1982). 10 (1–2): 137–161. doi:10.1016/0735-245X(85)90020-1. {{cite journal}}: Check |url= value (help)

[5] Glennie, K.W; Singhvi, A.K (March 2002). [doi.org/10.1016/S0277-3791(01)00133-0 "Event stratigraphy, paleoenvironment and chronology of SE Arabian deserts"]. Quaternary Science Reviews. 21 (7): 853–869. doi:10.1016/S0277-3791(01)00133-0. {{cite journal}}: Check |url= value (help)

[6] Bateman, Mark D; Frederick, Charles D; Jaiswal, Manoj K; Singhvi, Ashok K (May 2003). [doi.org/10.1016/S0277-3791(03)00019-2 "Investigations into the potential effects of pedoturbation on luminescence dating"]. Quaternary Science Reviews. 22 (10–13): 1169–1176. doi:10.1016/S0277-3791(03)00019-2. {{cite journal}}: Check |url= value (help)

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 == Research ==
-Singhvi returned to India joined [[Physical Research Laboratory|PRL]] as an Assistant Professor in 1978. Using methods and instrumentation that he designed, he developed the application of themol-uminescence dating to desert drylands to understand [[Paleoclimatology|paleoclimate]] at geomorphic timescales <ref>{{cite journal |doi=doi.org/10.1038/295313a0}}</ref> <ref>{{cite journal |doi=doi.org/10.1016/0735-245X(85)90020-1}}</ref>. Starting with analyses of sediments in the Thar desert, Singhvi expanded the application of thermoluminescence dating to document landscape system responses across other hot and cold deserts in India and across the globe <ref>{{cite journal |last1=Singhvi |first1=A. K. |last2=Sharma |first2=Y. P. |last3=Agrawal |first3=D. P. |title=Thermoluminescence dating of sand dunes in Rajasthan, India |journal=Nature |date=January 1982 |volume=295 |issue=5847 |pages=313–315 |doi=10.1038/295313a0 |url=https://doi.org/10.1038/295313a0 |language=en |issn=1476-4687}}</ref> <ref>{{cite journal |last1=Singhvi |first1=A.K. |last2=Mejdahl |first2=V. |title=Thermoluminescence dating of sediments |journal=Nuclear Tracks and Radiation Measurements (1982) |date=January 1985 |volume=10 |issue=1-2 |pages=137–161 |doi=10.1016/0735-245X(85)90020-1 |url=doi.org/10.1016/0735-245X(85)90020-1 |language=en}}</ref>. These studies, among others, led to the understanding that expansion and contractions of deserts was not synchronous, and to the concepts of “response time” of landforms and the “windows of opportunity” for creating a sedimentary record. This has provided insights into [[monsoon]] trajectories, the birth of deserts, wind patterns and tsunamis across multiple regions of the earth including Antartica, United States, Namib and Saharan Desert in Africa, Thar Desert in India and the Gobi Desert in China.
+Singhvi returned to India joined [[Physical Research Laboratory|PRL]] as an Assistant Professor in 1978. Using methods and instrumentation that he designed, he developed the application of themol-uminescence dating to desert drylands to understand [[Paleoclimatology|paleoclimate]] at geomorphic timescales <ref>{{cite journal |last1=Singhvi |first1=A. K. |last2=Sharma |first2=Y. P. |last3=Agrawal |first3=D. P. |title=Thermoluminescence dating of sand dunes in Rajasthan, India |journal=Nature |date=January 1982 |volume=295 |issue=5847 |pages=313–315 |doi=10.1038/295313a0 |url=doi.org/10.1038/295313a0 |language=en |issn=0028-0836}}</ref> <ref>{{cite journal |last1=Singhvi |first1=A.K. |last2=Mejdahl |first2=V. |title=Thermoluminescence dating of sediments |journal=Nuclear Tracks and Radiation Measurements (1982) |date=January 1985 |volume=10 |issue=1-2 |pages=137–161 |doi=10.1016/0735-245X(85)90020-1 |url=doi.org/10.1016/0735-245X(85)90020-1 |language=en}}</ref>. Starting with analyses of sediments in the Thar desert, Singhvi expanded the application of thermoluminescence dating to document landscape system responses across other hot and cold deserts in India and across the globe <ref>{{cite journal |last1=Singhvi |first1=A. K. |last2=Sharma |first2=Y. P. |last3=Agrawal |first3=D. P. |title=Thermoluminescence dating of sand dunes in Rajasthan, India |journal=Nature |date=January 1982 |volume=295 |issue=5847 |pages=313–315 |doi=10.1038/295313a0 |url=https://doi.org/10.1038/295313a0 |language=en |issn=1476-4687}}</ref> <ref>{{cite journal |last1=Singhvi |first1=A.K. |last2=Mejdahl |first2=V. |title=Thermoluminescence dating of sediments |journal=Nuclear Tracks and Radiation Measurements (1982) |date=January 1985 |volume=10 |issue=1-2 |pages=137–161 |doi=10.1016/0735-245X(85)90020-1 |url=doi.org/10.1016/0735-245X(85)90020-1 |language=en}}</ref>. These studies, among others, led to the understanding that expansion and contractions of deserts was not synchronous, and to the concepts of “response time” of landforms and the “windows of opportunity” for creating a sedimentary record. This has provided insights into [[monsoon]] trajectories, the birth of deserts, wind patterns and tsunamis across multiple regions of the earth including Antartica, United States, Namib and Saharan Desert in Africa, Thar Desert in India and the Gobi Desert in China.
 Other applications he developed for this technique include dating of costal deposits, pedogenic carbonates, glacial ice, fulgurites, meteorites, and geological faults among others<sup>a-e</sup>. Singhvi has also adapted thermoluminescence dating to studies dispersal and paleolithic tool development  of modern humans <ref>{{cite journal |last1=Glennie |first1=K.W |last2=Singhvi |first2=A.K |title=Event stratigraphy, paleoenvironment and chronology of SE Arabian deserts |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |date=March 2002 |volume=21 |issue=7 |pages=853–869 |doi=10.1016/S0277-3791(01)00133-0 |url=doi.org/10.1016/S0277-3791(01)00133-0 |language=en}}</ref> <ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bateman |first1=Mark D |last2=Frederick |first2=Charles D |last3=Jaiswal |first3=Manoj K |last4=Singhvi |first4=Ashok K |title=Investigations into the potential effects of pedoturbation on luminescence dating |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |date=May 2003 |volume=22 |issue=10-13 |pages=1169–1176 |doi=10.1016/S0277-3791(03)00019-2 |url=doi.org/10.1016/S0277-3791(03)00019-2 |language=en}}</ref>.