Dr. K. Vijayalakshmi (Research Director of CIKS) has obtained her Doctoral degree in Zoology. She was one of the founding trustees and is currently the Research Director of CIKS. She has conducted pioneering research on spiders controlling pests and authored the first guide on Indian spiders in 1993, inspiring subsequent studies in this field. She later shifted her focus to traditional rice varieties, researching their agronomic, nutritional, and therapeutic properties, and promoting their cultivation and awareness. Currently, she is also the Director of Sempulam Sustainable Solutions which is a social enterprise providing end to end solutions on sustainable organic agriculture​