Year of Establishment : 2000
History of the department : The two year post graduate course in the Environmental Science Department commenced in the year 2000 with a current intake capacity of 16 students. The students are from various undergraduate honours discipline of Environmental Science, Life Science, Physical Science and Earth Science. Besides theoretical and practical classes, students undertake a three months full time Institutional / Industrial training in leading organizations and Universities. Presently the Department has three permanent faculty members and few other sanctioned posts.
Faculties of repute from various science department– Biochemistry, Microbiology, Biotechnology, Geology, Home Science, Geography, Atmospheric Science, Marine Science, Zoology, Botany, Genetics, Neuroscience etc. and Technology Departments along with other guest faculties from Management and Technology Institution/ Industries are taking classes regularly. The department has research collaboration with several National and International Research Institutions. Moreover faculties are running several Government Projects very successfully and also provide service in the form of consultancy. The faculties have also performed advisory roles as well as are actively engaged in several community outreach program. Meanwhile faculties have given several invited lectures at the National and International level. The Department has also organized several workshops and seminars in collaboration with other esteemed Institutions.
The Department is also running Ph.D. programme in Environmental Science and students from the Department and other collaborative research institutions are successfully continuing their doctoral research. The excellence of the Department has been established with the publication of several high impact research articles in international journals. Highly motivated, disciplined and high quality students of the Department excelled in examinations like GATE, NET, GRE etc. Alumni of the Department contribute significantly to research and teaching in several highly acclaimed national and international institutions.
The laboratory and library facility of the Department is worth mentioning. The bondage of the teaching and non-teaching staff of the Department and also the students have made it possible to crystallize a department as a successful one and this endeavor will ensure its significant contribution in the field of future Environmental Science research.
Special award/ recognition from UGC or related statutory body:
| Name | Designation | Area of specialization | Email/Phone number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Punarbasu Chaudhuri [Profile] |
Associate Professor & HOD | Mangrove Ecology & Bioprospecting, Climate change, Green Chemistry, Geochemistry and Geoinformatics | [email protected] [email protected] 9831140980 |
| Aniruddha Mukhopadhayay [Profile] |
Professor | Environmental Biotechnology, Pollution treatment, Bioremediation and Toxicology | [email protected] 9830310635 |
| Pritha Bhattacharjee [Profile] |
Assistant Professor | Environmental Toxicogenomics, Molecular Biology and Human Genetics | [email protected] [email protected] 9432910619 |
| Name | Institutions attached with | Period of appointment |
|---|---|---|
| Mr. Aloke Mookerjea | ABB India Ltd. | Since 2000 |
| Dr. Anasuya Chatterjee | Asutosh College (Retd.) | Since 2015 |
| Mr. Anindya Niyogi | Bharat Foundation | Since 2000 |
| Dr. Asok K. Sarkar | Vivekananda College (Retd.) | Since 2007 |
| Prof. Chittaranjan Bhattachrya | Dept. of Geology, CU (Retd.) | Since 2000 |
| Mr. Jayanta Basu | Environment Governed Integrated Organization | Since 2000 |
| Dr. Joy Prakash Chattopadhyay | Hindustan Fertilizer Ltd. (Retd.) | Since 2000 |
| Dr. Jyoti Shankar Bandopadhyay | Vidyasagar University | Since 2008 |
| Dr. Kathakoli Gupta | Consultant Engineer | |
| Prof. Pradip K. Sikdar | IESWBM | Since 2006 |
| Dr. Pinaki Ranjan Chakraborty | Vijoygarh J. R. College | Since 2007 |
| Prof. Pulak Lahiri | Dept. of Zoology, CU (Retd.) | Since 2000 |
| Dr. Sajal Bhattacharya | Asutosh College | Since 2007 |
| Dr. Sajal K. Chakraborty | USEPA & SAIL (Retd.) | Since 2000 |
| Dr. Shubhendu Gupta | U.P.M. College (Retd.) | Since 2000 |
| Dr. Snehasikta Swarnakar | CSIR-IICB | Since 2006 |
| Dr. Soumendra Nath Talapatra | CA Solutions | Since 2005 |
| Prof. Sudip K. Bandopadhyay | Dept. of Biochemistry, CU (Retd.) | Since 2000 |
| Dr. Tapan Mishra | Vidyasagar College (Retd.) | Since 2000 |
| Programme | Level of study | Eligibility | Intake capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| M. Sc. | Post-graduation | B.Sc. (Hons.) with minimum 55% marks and Chemistry as a subject. | 16 |
| Ph.D. | Research | As per UGC norms | Varies |
| Name | Broad area of research topic | Name of the supervisor | Date of registration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abhirupa Kar | Microbial remediation of water | Prof. Aniruddha Mukhopadhyay | 2014 |
| Alokesh Mridha | Synthesis and application of natural dye | 2015 | |
| Priya Banerjee | Nanocomposite based waste water treatment | 2014 | |
| Rajlaxmi Basu | Effect of aqueous toxins on sewage and automobile workers | 2014 | |
| Shramana Roy Barman | Adsorbents for waste water treatment | ||
| Sirshendu Ghosh | Wetland dynamics and ecotoxicology | 2014 | |
| Madhurima Bakshi | Bioprospecting of Sundarban mangroves | Dr. Punarbasu Chaudhuri | 2014 |
| Nabanita Naskar | Radioactivity in mangrove environment | 2016 | |
| Shouvik Mahanty | Fungi mediated nanoparticle synthesis and application. | ||
| Shubhro Mitra | Acid sulphate soil in mangrove ecosystem | ||
| Somdeep Ghosh | Climate change effect on mangrove | ||
| Vaswati Nandy | Prospecting of mangrove fungi | ||
| Kaushik Mondal | Waste hair and occupational health issues | Dr. Pritha Bhattacharjee | |
| Pritha Bhattacharjee | Epigenetics of arsenic toxicity | ||
| Ritwija Bhattacharya | Tea polyphenols and health | ||
| Shuvam Banerjee | Trace metal and cancer biomarker | ||
| Tamalika Sanyal | Mitochondrial epigenetics |
| Project title | Funding agency | Principal investigator | Duration | Budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green synthesis of iron nanoparticles from manglicolous fungi of Indian Sundarban and their application in sequestration of heavy metals from contaminated water | DBT | Punarbasu Chaudhuri | 2016-2019 | 55 lakhs |
| Promising Role of black tea polyphenols as epigenetic modulator: A new bridge between nutrition and health | NTRF | Pritha Bhattacharjee | 2015-2018 | 19 lakhs |
| Comparative study of trace elements in the blood and buccal saliva of Arsenicosis and cancer patients using PIXE & its relation with DNA damage progression | UGC-DAE | Pritha Bhattacharjee | 2015-2018 | 8 lakhs |
| Effect of climate change on mobilization of trace element from acid sulphate soils in coastal mangrove habitat of Sundarban | UGC-DAE | Punarbasu Chaudhuri | 2014-2017 | 8 lakhs |
| Health impact of household level air pollution | TERI | Punarbasu Chaudhuri | 2014-2016 | 1.6 lakhs |
| Studies on migration of mangroves in Hoogly estuary and its potentiality assessment as climate change indicator | DST-SERB | Punarbasu Chaudhuri | 2013-2016 | 22 lakhs |
| Role of Epigenetic Modifications in Arsenic-Induced Toxicity and Carcinogenicity: with special reference to Histone Modification | DST-SERB | Pritha Bhattacharjee | 2013-2016 | 22lakhs |
| Title of the programme | Principal collaborator of the department | Name and address of the collaborating institution | Principal collaborator of the collaborating institution | Duration of the programme |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genetic Variation in Multidrug Resistance Gene (MRP4) in Arsenic Exposed Population of West Bengal | Pritha Bhattacharjee | Dept. of Physiology, University of Alberta, Canada | Dr. Elaine Leslie | 2016-2017 |
| Cardiovascular Disease in Children Exposed to Arsenic, Lead and Mercury | Pritha Bhattacharjee | Dept. of Chemistry, SUNY-OSWEGO, USA | Dr. Kestutis G. Bendinskas | 2016-2019 |
| Ceramic membrane based processors for waste water treatment and toxicity impact analysis | Aniruddha Mukhopadhyay | Ceramic Membrane Division, CSIR-CGCRI, Kolkata | Dr. Sourja Ghosh | 2014-2017 |
| Study to elucidate the significance of East Kolkata Wetland in carbon sequestration to mitigate the climate change. | Aniruddha Mukhopadhyay | IESWM, Kolkata | Mr. Tapan Saha | 2014-2016 |
| Assessment and modeling on decolorization of textile effluents by sorption coupled with biodegradation in a fluidized bed bioreactor and evaluation of reactor performance. | Aniruddha Mukhopadhyay | Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata. | Dr. Papita Das | 2013-2016 |
| Effect of coastal pollution on mangroves | Punarbasu Chaudhuri | School of Geoscience, University of Sydney | Prof. Gavin Birch | 2012-2013 |
| Framing Environmental Management Policy for backward areas of Sundarban using Geo-information Technology (DSA Phase I program on Environment Management of UGC) | Punarbasu Chaudhuri | Department of Business Management, University of Calcutta | Prof. Sitanath Mazumder | 2011-2016 |
| Health of stone quarry workers of Birbhum districts | Punarbasu Chaudhuri | ISI, Kolkata. | Prof. Subrata Roy | 2011-2014 |
Teaching support
Research support :
| Name of the equipment | Brief description | Funding agency |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic Weather Station | Continuous monitoring of multiple weather parameters | DST-SERB |
| COD digester | For water quality analysis | CU |
| Cold Centrifuge | Multiple rotors with temperature adjustment | UGC XIth Plan |
| Digestion facility (Microwave and Block) | Sample preparation for ICP-OES analysis | UGC-UPE |
| Dual beam Spectrophotometer | Equipped with UV and visible light source | UGC XIIth Plan |
| Flame photometer | For sodium, potassium and calcium analysis | CU |
| Gas Chromatograph | Equipped with flame ionization detector | UGC XIIth Plan |
| GIS and Remote sensing facility | Geospatial Study | DST-SERB |
| GPS | Geographical position determination | CU |
| HANNA multi probe water quality analyzer | Automatic portable water quality analyser | DST-SERB |
| High resolution microscope | High resolution magnified imaging | UGC XIth Plan |
| High volume dust sampler | Air quality monitoring | CU |
| ICP-OES | Elemental analysis | UGC-UPE |
| Kjeldahl Apparatus | Nitrogen analyzer | CU |
| Metler digital weighing balance | For high precision weighing | UGC XIth Plan |
| Milli Q Apparatus | Ultrapure water purification facility | UGC XIIth Plan |
| Muffle furnace | High temperature thermal activation | CU |
| PCR (General and Gradient), Electrophoresis and Gel imager | For molecular biological applications | CU and DST-SERB |
| Real Time PCR | For investigating gene expression | NTRF |
| Seed germinator | Serves as environmental growth chamber | CU |
| Ultrasonic bath | For adsorption studies | OPTM |
[Trace element analysis facility]
Additional information :
Campus : Taraknath Palit Siksha Prangan (Ballygange Campus)
Address for communication : Department of Environmental Science, University of Calcutta, 7th Floor, 35, Ballygunge Circular Road, Kolkata - 700019, West Bengal, India
