Dr. V. Balaram (DOB 1 June 1951) received M.Sc. (1974) and Ph.D. degrees (1979) in Chemistry from the Andhra University, Visakhapatnam. Former Emeritus Scientist and Chief Scientist and Head, Geochemistry Division, CSIR - NGRI, Hyderabad- 500 007, India. Consulting Scientist, IUAC, New Delhi, and Member, RAB - WIHG, Dehradun. His research areas include trace element geochemistry, marine geochemistry, mineral exploration, spectroscopy, environmental chemistry, and climate change. He has over 320 publications in international peer-reviewed journals, with ~ 6200 citations (h-index 40 and i10-index 129), about 20 book chapters, guided five Ph.D. students, a few postdoctoral, and hundreds of PG students from different universities across the country. National awards include the National Geoscience Award - from Govt. of India, New Delhi (2000); the S. Narayanaswamy Award - from the Geological Society of India, Bangalore (2010); the Eminent Mass Spectroscopist Award- from the Indian Society of Mass Spectrometry (ISMAS), BARC, Mumbai (2006); and Dr. C. V. Raman Memorial Award - from the AP Academy of Sciences (2019). International recognitions include: His name is featured in Stanford University's list of the top 2% of world scientists in three consecutive years, i.e., 2020, 2021, and 2022 and represented India at the UN/IAEA Meeting on “ICP-MS Applications in Water Resources Management” in Oct 2022 at the IAEA Headquarters, Vienna, Austria.