Environmental Science

Department : Environmental Science
HOD : Prof. Malaya Ranjan Mahananda
Designation : Associate Professor & Head
Qualification : M.Sc., M.Phil., M. Tech., Ph.D
Teaching Exp. : 18 Years
Phone No. : : +91 09439536915
Email : : malaya_env@suniv.ac.in
Message of the HOD

The Department of Environmental Sciences in Sambalpur University was approved by the University Grants Commission during seventh plan period and was established in 1989 as the only Post Graduate Department of its kind in the state of Odisha and one of the few in the country. The Department started M.Phil. programme from the academic session 1990-1991 and M.Sc. programme from the session 1994-95. The Department is now highly acclaimed for a programme on M.Tech. in Environmental Science and Engineering from the session 2007-08. Two PG Diploma programmes on Environment Education and Management and Industrial Safety and Health were running in the Department under the aegis of DDCE.

Based on its academic excellence, the Department was granted academic autonomy from the session 2006-2007. The Department offers courses at M.Sc., and M.Tech. levels on various aspects of Environmental Sciences like System Ecology, Population and Community Ecology, Environmental Pollution, Resource Conservation and Management, Instrumental Techniques, Computer application and data analysis, Forest Ecology, Environmental Law and Society, Environmental Toxicology, Soil Biology and Biotechnology, Ecological Monitoring, Soil Pollution and Waste Management, Applications of Remote Sensing and GIS in Environmental Science, Energy Resources, Environmental aspects of Mining Industry, Hydrology &Watershed Management, Waste Water Engineering, ElA & EMP, Research Methodology, Environmental Field Survey etc. Besides these, Seminar and Industrial Training, Term Paper & Dissertation work are also part of the course curricula. The course curricula of the Department have been updated from time to time to imbibe advanced knowledge in different areas of Environmental Science & Technology taking into account the syllabii for NET/GATE examinations and that of other premier institutes of the country. The students also pursue research in different facets of Environmental Science as well as Environmental Science & Engineering for the award of Ph.D. and D.Sc.

The department received a prestigious DST FIST grant of Rs. 20 lakhs from the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India to update the infrastructure facility of the Department. The Department has received financial support to the tune of Rs.3 Crores in the form of research projects from UGC, New Delhi, UNEP/GEF, INDAL, Hirakud, OPGC, Bhubaneswar, OSPCB, Bhubaneswar, NTPC, Farraka, NTPC, Kaniha, MCL, Sambalpur, ICMR, New Delhi, JSW, DST etc. The teachers of the Department are also associated with industries and other agencies in consultancy work on taxo-ecological enumeration of flora and fauna, air and water monitoring, management of organic waste through vermicomposting, fly ash utilization in agriculture, low cost waste water technology, assessment of quality of life of people around Development Projects, ecological enumeration of vegetation and their potential in carbon removal etc. The thrust and focus of the future research plan of the Department is Environmental Technology, Low-Cost Waste Water Treatment, Solid Waste Management, EIA and EMP Studies.

The department has experts in the field of Biology, Chemistry, Environmental pollution and Management, Ecotoxicology, Soil Biology and Biotechnology, as well as Geology and Geochemistry. The teachers of the Department are also well recognized in their fields at National and International levels and acted as reviewers, editors, resources persons and expert members in SPCB and National Green Tribunal. Many alumni of the Department are well placed in different teaching, research and environment monitoring positions in various Government, Semi-Government Institutions, Universities, SPCB, CPCB, OMC, OPGC, NTPC, CPGC, NHPC, MCL, JSW, National and Multinational organizations in India and abroad. Many students have also opted a career in administrative positions, teaching in schools, and in NGOs in Odisha and outside.

Since its inception, the Department has organised One International Seminar, Four National Seminars, Four Workshops and Ten U.G.C. sponsored Refresher Courses. The Department has already organized some national level Seminars on Emerging Perspectives on Disaster management in colaboration with the Department of Anthropology, Environment and Sustainable Development and Sustainable Development of Earth Resources: Strategies on Management plan in collaboration with the Department of Earth Sciences. During March 2023 the department acted as a collaborating partner with the Department of Scociology to conduct a seminar on “Development and Discontent”. In the same month the Department also conducted a national seminar on “Environment, Development and Society” with Sociology Department as a collaborative partner. This seminar has drawn appreciation from different levels of the state and the nation.

Infrastructure Facilities
Sl.No Facilities Major Equipments available
1 Building Well furnished
2 Teaching Laboratory Two well furnished Teaching halls
3 Research laboratory Two well equipped research Laboratory
4 Computer laboratory One well furnished Computer laboratory
5 Any Other Instrumentation room and well furnished seminar hall; One seminar library. Roof top harvesting system. Experimental garden
Environmental Science

Param Shavak Super Computer

The Department of Computer Science and Applications is proud to house the state-of-the-art Param Shavak Super Computer. This powerful computing system, equipped with two multicore CPUs, each boasting a minimum of 12 cores, offers a peak computing power ranging from 2 to 5 Tera-Flops, making it an invaluable asset for our academic and research endeavors. With 64 GB of RAM and 8 TB of storage, it accelerates data processing and storage capacity, facilitating advanced computational research. The addition of an NVIDIA GP 100 accelerator card further enhances its capabilities. The Param Shavak comes pre-loaded with parallel programming development tools and resource management utilities, simplifying the execution of complex simulations and computations. Our department takes pride in providing students, researchers, and faculty members with an indigenous HPC portal, CHReME, and an applications interface, Onama, offering easy access to a suite of HPC applications tailored to various scientific domains, from bioinformatics to computational fluid dynamics. What sets the Param Shavak apart are its userfriendly features, including pre-loaded parallel programming development tools, resource management utilities, and the convenience of the indigenous HPC portal. Moreover, the system comes pre-packaged with a suite of HPC applications catering to various domains such as bioinformatics, molecular dynamics, materials science, quantum chemistry, atmospheric modeling, and computational fluid dynamics, making it an indispensable tool for groundbreaking research and simulations across a multitude of scientific disciplines.

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( Param Shavak Super Computer )

MOU Signed

The Department has signed two significant Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) to advance computer education and research. The first MOU, in 2015, involved a partnership with IIT Bombay and was funded by the National Mission on Education through ICT (NMEICT), Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. This initiative aimed to provide software training through spoken tutorials. The second MOU, established in 2017, was with the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Pune, and was funded by the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan(RUSA), Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. This collaboration focused on installing and deploying "PARAM Shavak," a high-performance computing solution, enhancing the University's computing capabilities for advanced research and training to students, research scholars and faculties of the University .

CSR Fund Received

The Department received two significant CSR funds in 2022. The first sponsorship, amounting to Rs. 27,25,865, was provided by the CSR Department of JSW Bhushan Power & Steel Limited, Rengali, Sambalpur, with the aim of supporting the development of a new computer Training Centre. The second sponsorship, totaling Rs. 10,00,000, was generously contributed by UCO Bank's General Administrative Department, Zonal Office, Ainthapali Road, Sambalpur, with a specific focus on establishing a computer Training Centre tailored to the needs of SC/ST students. These funds signify a meaningful partnership between industry and academia, enhancing educational opportunities in computer science and applications for the benefit of students at Sambalpur University, with a particular emphasis on empowering underprivileged communities.

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