2024

Two – Day Workshop on Use of Satellite Data in Air Pollution Studies was organized by Department of Environmental Studies, St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata and Arun Duggal Centre of Excellence for Research in Climate Change and Clean Air (CERCA), Indian Institute of Technology Delhi in partnership with West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB)Department of Environment, Government of West Bengal on 10th Jan – 12th January, 2024 at St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata for students and researchers. There were interactive lectures on Satellite Remote Sensing for Air Pollution Studies , Basics of exposure modelling & applications, Health burden analysis – GBD framework and hands on training for the participants  on Introduction to Visualization Tools, Introduction to QGIS & R-software, Satellite Data Processing, Setting up Algorithms , Implementing the Algorithm and Health burden estimation.

2023

  1. An IPR Awareness Programme on Different Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights was organized by Department of Environmental Studies and IQAC of St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata for spreading awareness on IPR among faculty members and research scholars of our college under the scheme – National Intellectual Property Awareness Mission (NIPAM). This Awareness Programme was held on 15.02.2023 and Dr. Kausik Bag, Examiner of Patents & Designs (Gr. 'A' Gazetted), The Patent Office, Kolkata, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Govt. of India was rge resource person.
  2. Department of Environmental Studies organized a seminar an workshop on “Green Environment and Sustainability” in Raghabpur Campus on 20th April 2023 and Mr. Abhra Shankar Roy, Senior Research Manager, SwitchON Foundation, Former CEO, Calcutta Solar Power Pvt. Ltd. Was the resource person of this seminar.
  3. Department of Environmental Studies in collaboration Hulladek Recycling organized a Press Conference with different institutions on the occasion of Earth Day 2023 on the topic ‘What is the role of the youth to bring about a change in today’s climate crisis? And how are educational institutions encouraging action towards it?’ on 21st April, 2023.
  4. St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata received the GREEN AND ENVIRONMENTAL AUDIT CERTIFICATE (academic year 2022 and 2023) for good and healthy eco-friendly environment created for saving Earth and Nature from Tropical Institute of Earth and Environmental Research (TIEER). Department of Environmental Studies with the support of Honorable Father Principal, IQAC Team, Faculty Members and Staffs of the college participated in the preparatory activities of the audit.
  5. World Environment Day was celebrated on 5th June, 2023 the institution through the inauguration of Plastic Free Canteen, Installation of Automated Plastic Crusher, Initiation of Plastovore and Poster Competition on MISSION LiFE- Lifestyle for Environment along with continuous effort for maintaining the eco-friendly practices in the campus and invited talks by eminent speakers. This programme was jointly organised by Departments of Environmental Studies, Chemistry and Microbiology in association with National Service Scheme (Unit I).
  6. A long-term research relationship between St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata and Arun Duggal Centre of Excellence for Research in Climate Change and Air Pollution, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (CERCA, IIT-D) has been established through Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in May, 2023 for facilitating collaborative studies and research on air pollution, climate change, and their effects on human health. This collaboration will help in indigenous capacity building on air pollution monitoring, assessment and mitigation among the students and faculty members of St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata and explore these research areas by organizing special lectures, workshops, conferences, internships and publications.
  7. Students of M.Sc Microbiology were sent  to Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, IIT Delhi for Summer Internship Programme during June- July, 2023 (two months) as a part of the research collaboration among IIT Delhi, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata. During this capacity building programme, students learnt satellite/ground data analysis and their application in air pollution studies.

 

2022

  1. Green Audit: St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata received the GREEN AND ENVIRONMENTAL AUDIT CERTIFICATE (academic year 2021 and 2022) for good and healthy eco-friendly environment created for saving Earth and Nature from Tropical Institute of Earth and Environmental Research (TIEER). Department of Environmental Studies with the support of Honorable Father Principal, IQAC Team, Faculty Members and Staffs of the college participated in the preparatory activities of the audit.
  2. International Conference on Climate Change: Global Cooperation was organized on 26th and 27th of August, 2022 at St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata on the focal themes of Climate Change, Environment sustainability & Climate Refugee/ Migration. This was a multidimensional conference which brought the environmentalists, atmospheric scientists, biologists, social scientists and mathematicians on a single platform from across the globe. Dignitaries from different institutions in India (IIT Kharagpur, IIT Delhi, JNU, IISER etc.) and outside India (New York University, University of Howard etc.) enriched the students, research scholars and academicians with their invited lectures during these two days conference. This conference also enabled the sharing of knowledge and ideas from participants of different specializations and thereby encouraging them to consciously and collectively work towards finding suitable solutions for tackling the contemporary environmental issues and work together to save our Mother Earth, our Common Home.
  3. “Estimation of the potential impact on human health of cyanobacteria and microalgae and their toxins in the bioaerosols of the coastal zone: a comparative assessment between India and Poland” is an ongoing Indo-Poland Joint project coordinated by Prof. Sagnik Dey, Professor, Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, IIT Delhi and Dr. Anita Lewandowska, Department of Oceanography and Geography, University of Gdansk, Poland. Dr. Arup Kumar Mitra and Dr. Sharadia Dey of Department of Environmental Studies of St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata, India are the Co- PIs of this project. This project is sanctioned by DST (International Cooperation Division), Government of India.

A team of professors and research scholars from University of Gdansk, Poland visited Kolkata during 5th December, 2022 to 12th December, 2022 for sampling and exchange of research ideas as a part of Indo-Poland Joint Project. A seminar entitled “Aerosols of natural and anthropogenic origin in the coastal zone of the southern Baltic Sea (Poland)” was organized in St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata on 06.12.2022 (Tuesday) with the researchers from Poland as the guest speakers. Professors, research scholars and post graduate students of St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata conducted sampling in different parts of Kolkata and outside Kolkata with the researchers from Poland.

  1. IIT Delhi, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata have initiated a collaborative research work on Local Air Quality Management Plan (LAMP) in Kolkata. West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) is the knowledge partner of this project. St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) have entered into MOU on 20.12.22 for collaborating towards expanding knowledge in the domains of air quality, climate change and low carbon development. This MOU will help in capacity building of St. Xavier’s College in the form of practical training for students, field experiments, workshops and internships overseen by IIT Delhi and EDF. Dr. Sharadia Dey of Department of Environmental Studies will lead this project technically on behalf of St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata.

2021

  1. Department of Environmental Studies has organized a Colloquium on Environmental Sustainability on World Environment Day, 5th of June 2021 on Zoom Platform. Students have given presentation on various topics related to ecosystem restoration, environmental awareness, conservation and sustainability.
  2. An International Webinar entitled “Climate Change and Forced Migration” has been organized on Thursday, 28th October 2021 at 6:30 pm (IST) by the department of Environmental Studies. This Webinar was attributed towards the research conducted with communities affected by climate change and environmental disasters in different parts of the world. The outline of the work envisioned a new paradigm of collaboration between migration scholars and environmentalist scientists, aimed at creating links among developing works. Dr. Cristina-Ioana Dragomir, NewYork University, USA, Ms. Anushka Akhtar, University of Oxford, UK, Mr. Ryan Bhadlawala, Queen Mary University of London, UK, Dr. Arup Kumar Mitra, Head of Environmental Studies Department, St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata, India, Dr. Hadas Cohen, University of Oklahoma, USA and Dr. Filip Alexandrescu, Research Institute for the Quality of Life, Romania. This was followed by a Panel discussion moderated by Dr. Sharadia Dey, Department of Environmental Studies, St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata, India

2020

  1. Department of Environmental Studies has taken the initiative to spread youth awareness and propagate positive climate actions by organizing the largest youth summit on climate change in eastern India. Departments of Environmental Studies and Education are jointly presented “The Kolkata Youth Summit on Climate Change - Kolkata City- Our Responsibility” on 27th & 28th January, 2020.The Conference included almost 3000 students from all across the city and students of 11th grade participated in the sessions filled with knowledge and expertise. This Summit introduced and propagated the innovative ways for proper climate actions

2019

  1. The department organized InternationalConference on Commerce, Economics, Environment and Management (ICCEEM - 2019) with the theme “Transformation of the Global Economy” during 13th -14th of September, 2019. These two days saw two plenary sessions dedicated to discussions on several aspects of environment as well as paper presentations made by professors of various institutions and colleges and research scholars. The first plenary session was on environment and bio- diversity conservation and the key note speaker was Dr. Abhijit Mitra, Associate Professor and former Head, Dept. of Marine Science, University of Calcutta (INDIA). The second session was on pollution and its harmful impacts and the key note speaker was Dr. B. Sengupta, an Environmental Scientist who worked in Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. of India for more than 30 years in different capacity. The conference saw 18 papers being presented on various aspects of organic farming, sustainable agriculture, man and environment consanguinity managing indigenous culture and livelihood, mangrove studies, development of food products from mangrove associated species, water quality management, environmental journalism, weather and other environmental economic problems and shocks, climate change, sustainable management of fly ash and other waste products.
  2. The Department of Environmental Studies organized an International Symposium on Environment and Climate Crises on 20th December, 2019 (Friday) in collaboration with The Blue Patch and The Biome. It aims in creating awareness towards protection and enhancement of the environment wherein research and academia-industry projects shall be used as key instruments of development for improving the quality of life. Renowned speakers and environment enthusiasts from different parts of the globe have been invited for the symposium. Interactive panel discussion and poster presentation session will be organized for students, research scholars and faculty members from different colleges and institutions.

2018

  1. An invited talk titled “Why do we need to care about air pollution?” was organized on 18th August, 2018 at R. K. Hall. Dr. Sagnik Dey, Associate Professor of Centre for Atmospheric Science of Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi was the invited speaker. During his talk, he focussed on health impacts of escalating air pollution. He highlighted the importance of interdisciplinary approach for addressing this global environmental issue and the also the alternative career options for tackling the same. Students from Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Computer Science, Microbiology, Statistics and Biotechnology attended this talk.
  2. ‘Green Club’ of St. Xavier’s college (Autonomous), Kolkata, Raghabpur Campus in association with Lions Club of Calcutta, BBD Bag organized “Let’s Invest in Green Gold” on 8th August, 2018 at Raghabpur Campus. The inauguration of the programme was marked by the felicitation of all the present dignitaries. Words of inspiration by Rev. Father Johnson Padiyara, S.J, Vice Principal, Raghabpur Campus, Rev. Father Patrick Walsh, Jesuit Mission Superior, Raghabpur, Mrs. Sudha Jaiswal, First Vice District Governor of Lions Club International, District 322B2 and other senior members of Lions Club motivated the students to love and save Mother Earth. This was followed by sapling plantation in the College Campus and sapling distribution among the students and villagers.
Head of the Department
Dr. Arup Kumar Mitra (DD)
M.Sc., Ph.D.
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