KARACHI: Seasoned environmentalist and plant ecologist Dr Zafar Iqbal Shams passed away after a brief illness on Thursday morning. He was 61.

He was buried at the Shah Mohammad graveyard. He is survived by a wife and five sons.

A competent researcher, Dr Shams carried out extensive studies on Karachi`s green cover, urban forestry and environmental pollution. Most of his works were published in high-impact journals.

He was the first PhD in Pakistan on environmental studies.

Unfortunately, however, he couldn`t get the recognition he deserved as a scientist and teacher at Karachi University (KU) from where he retired from the same position he joined the institution over 12 years ago.

`Dr Shams initially applied at the KU in 2001. But, he was rejected during the selection process that he challenged in the court and won the case. The university administration, however, delayed his appointment on one excuse or the other,` a senior KU teacher shared on the condition of anonymity.

The late teacher kept fighting his case for a decade, he added.

`During these years, he fell ill with cancer that also affected progress on his case.

He finally got appointed as an assistant professor at the KU`s Institute of EnvironmentalStudies in 2010.

In 2019, Dr Shams applied for the post of associate professor when the university publicised several vacant teaching positions on the campus.

`Seeing no progress in the appointment process, Dr Shams took the matter to the court that directed the university to hold the selection board of the relevant institute,` he said.

This time, sources said, the department of universities and boards stopped the process of appointment on the ground that the university was required to take prior permission for carrying out the selection process from the provincial government.

The current status, the sources said, was that the university had appointed an external candidate on that particular position while internal candidates were seeking reversal ofthe selection process.

`Several senior university teachers are experiencing the same ordeal that Dr Shams had to go through for so many years.

The university administration must address long delays in the appointment and promotion process,` Prof Soleha Rehman heading the Karachi University Teachers` Society shared.

Dr Shams did his master`s from KU`s botany department in 1985 with specialisation in plant ecology and a PhD from IES in 1993.

A lifetime member of the Botanical Society of Pakistan, Dr Shams worked as an adviser on several projects related to ecological and environment al issues.