Charles Calder, a Founding Fellow of the INSA was a classical botanist who obtained his BSc in 1908, at the University of Aberdeen. He served as Curator of Herbarium, Superintendent and Director, Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata, as Professor, Royal Botanic Garden, Darjeeling and as Superintendent, Cinchona Department of Bengal.

Academic and Research Achievements: Calder was responsible for the activities of the Botanical Survey of India, particularly relating to the promotion and utilization of Cinchona. His papers on Oxalis and Vernonia are well known. He wrote a brief account of vegetation of India and also listed the genera and species not included in Hooker's Flora of British India. He made a collection of several herbal plants around Baghdad, Baiji Shergat, Mosul and Basra.

Other Contributions: Author, with K Biswas, of the Handbook of Common Water and Marsh Plants of India, Calder put horticultural education in India on a sound footing by launching a training course at the Calcutta Botanical Garden.

Awards and Honours: CC Calder was President, Botany Section, Indian Science Congress (1914), a Fellow of the Linnaean Society of London, Royal Horticultural Society (London) a Member of the Council of the Asiatic Society, and a Trustee of the Indian Museum.