Felix Bast, born as Vadakke Madam Sreejith Nambissan , is an Indian phycologist, author, and public educator based at the Central University of Punjab.[1] He is the member of the high-profile advisory council of International Science Council, Paris, and has discovered seven new species of plants from India and Antarctica.Felix Bast was born in Payyannur, Kerala, India, to a Malayali Brahmin family. He attended government Boys' High School in Payyannur. Subsequently, he completed BSc in microbiology from Kannur University with the university first rank and MSc in biotechnology with First Class from the University of Madras Guindy Campus. Bast was associated with the Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay as a PhD student and CSIR-JRF. In 2005 he left IIT Bombay to accept the Japanese Government Doctoral Scholarship (MEXT) and completed PhD in Marine Biology from Kochi University, Shikoku, Japan. Other institutes where he took training include Friday Harbor Laboratories (University of Washington, USA) and Marine Biological Association of UK laboratories, Plymouth, UK.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. 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:
