Prof. M. K. Prasad is a well known environmentalist, who has been at the forefront of movements to save the environment in his native state of Kerala for over four decades.

Prasad held various positions in Kerala Government Colleges as Botany Professor and Principal, rising to become the Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Calicut.

In the 1960s and 70s Prof. Prasad was the public face of the Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP) – the peoples’ science movement in that state, when it addressed environmental issues like pollution as well as attempts to destroy the precious tract of tropical rain forests known as Silent valley.

By his writings and his crusades held and inspired, Prof. Prasad brought global attention to these environmental issues - exposure which ultimately helped reverse flawed planning decisions.

Prasad is a member of WWF, IUCN, CSE, BNHS, Water Resources Society of India, and CEE Governing Council & Greenpeace India.

Prasad was also one of the Principal Co-ordinators of the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests’ project to conduct Carrying Capacity Based Developmental Planning Studies for the Greater Kochi Region of Kerala. He played a key role in the preparation of a set of documents called “Peoples’ Biodiversity Registers” which recorded the living resources and related traditional knowledge of all the Grama Panchayaths of the District of Ernakulam in Kerala. Prof. Prasad served as a member of the UN launched Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Board (2001-05). He continues to involve himself in all issues that impact the human environment in the world around him.