Speakers

Inaugural Session

Prof. A. P. Dimri

Prof. A. P. Dimri received the Ph.D. degree in atmospheric sciences from Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, India, in 2004. Since 2011, he has been a Professor with the School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, India. He is also the Director of Indian Institute of Geomagnetism, Mumbai. He is the author of more than 80 articles in national and international journals. His research interests include regional climate dynamics, climate and numerical modeling, and understanding of physical processes.

Prof. Babli Moitra Saraf

Professor Babli Moitra Saraf, Principal of the College since 1 July 2009, is in the Department of English and is also the Head of the Department of Multi - Media and Mass Communication. She has received her M.Phil degree in English and Ph.D in Sociology. She is fluent in several Indian and foreign languages. Her doctoral thesis studies language change in the advertising industry in India in the first phase of globalization (1984-94), and the emergence of the Indian urban middle class identity. Active as a teacher both within and outside her College, her teaching interests include Translation, Poetry, Modern Indian Literature in Translation, Classical Literature, Renaissance and Modern European Drama, Poetry, The Bible, Cultural Studies, Communication Studies, Literary Theory, Literature and the Arts and the Hindi Film Song. Her ongoing research examines traditions of Orality, Embodied Languages and Performance in the context of Translation and Translation Studies. Her publications, La Cattura (Theoria, 1996) and La Preda e altri Racconti (Einaudi, 2004), are acclaimed translations. Her work Rajouri Remembered (2007), is a translation of a family narrative, from Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi and oral history, recounting the effects of the Partition of India in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Her latest publication is Hey Diddle Diddle: Tun-Tun Tara-Tara (New Delhi: Vani Prakashan, 2017), which are Hindi adaptations/ translations of popular nursery rhymes in English. She is a member on the Scientific Board of In Other Wor(l)ds: Project Book Series on translations from Asia and North Africa. She received the 27th Dr. S. Radhakrishnan Memorial National Award for Teachers in 2011 and the Fulbright- Nehru International Education Administrator Seminar award in 2011.

Prof. Anindita Roy Saha

Prof. Anindita Roy Saha is affiliated with the Department of Economics and is the Head of the Department of Environmental Studies, Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi. She is the Coordinator of the Centre for Earth Studies at Indraprastha College, a research and learning centreaimed towards interdisciplinary initiatives for environmental protection and sustainable development. She is a visiting faculty at the Department of Environmental Studies, University of Delhi, where she teaches Environmental Economics and Resource Economics. Dr. Saha has studied at Jadavpur University, Kolkata and Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She obtained her Ph. D degree from JNU in the area of Energy Economics. Her area of specialization is Development Economics with special focus on the Economics of Energy, Environment and Resources. She has been associated with the University of Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru University, University of Delhi South Campus, Ambedkar University Delhi, Nalanda University and Amity University in various academic and professional capacities. She has many scholarly articles in national and international journals to her credit. She has supervised several research projects and participated in international and national level conferences, seminars and workshops in areas covering environmental education, climate change, disaster management and environmental sustainability.

Theme: Agriculture and Food Security

Dr. Neha Mishra

Dr. Neha Mishra is currently working as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Environmental Studies, Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi where she teaches the compulsory Environmental Studies paper to undergraduate students. She obtained her Ph.D. in Environmental Toxicology from University of Delhi. During her doctoral research, she worked on temporal and spatial variation in pesticide pollution and various other parameters in Yamuna river water and the adjoining agriculture fields in Delhi-NCR. Her study included biodegradation of persistent Organochlorine pesticide DDT, using indigenous bacterial sp. and it's protein analysis. She has also worked on heavy metal pollution in soil. She has expertise in various techniques like Gas Chromatography analysis, Real-time PCR, protein analysis using SDS-PAGE, etc. Her current research interest focuses on studying Particulate pollution and Air Pollution Tolerance of urban trees. As an ardent environmentalist, she has given several lectures and talks on environmental education and pollution. She has guided over 2000 students in pursuing different careers in Environment Sciences.

Dr. Shailender Kumar

Dr. Shailender Kumar is an Assistant Professor and founder member at Centre for Environmental Studies and Disaster Management, Miranda House, University of Delhi. He is also associated with the National Institute of Disaster Management, Govt of India for the research on Solid waste management in post disaster scenario. He is working in the field of environmental pollution monitoring and assessment since last seven years as junior research fellow and senior research fellow at University of Delhi andalso worked at department of environmental sciences in Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. He taught environmental science as a compulsory subject in different prestigious colleges of Delhi University such as Miranda House, Indraprastha college for women, Hindu college, and Shyama Prasad Mukherji college.He had done Industrial training at the coal-based power plants of North Delhi Power Corporation, Delhi.He had been part of organising team in different environmental pollution related seminars and workshops. His research work focusedon the qualitative and quantitative water, soil and air analysis along with geospatial assessment and mapping of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) distribution in different spheres with special emphasis on risk of mercury exposure. His research outlined that potentially toxic elements (PTEs) including suspected carcinogen were present in threatening concentrations in the settings of NCT, Delhi. He published his work in several national and international reputed journals.

Dr. Baerbel Sinha

Dr. Baerbel Sinha is an Associate Professor and the Head of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Mohali. Her work focusses on understanding the sources of air pollution with the help of source receptor modelling tools, emission inventories and exposure-response studies.

Prior to joining IISER Mohali in September 2011, Dr. Sinha worked at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany for seven years as a doctoral and postdoctoral research scientist first in the biogeochemistry division led by Prof. Meinrat O. Andreae, and later in the particle chemistry division lead by Prof. Borrman. Where she developed a method to measure stable sulphur isotope ratios in individual aerosol particles.

Dr. Sinha is known internationally for state-of-the art experimental studies on in individual aerosol particles, and biological samples. Her pioneering work contributed significantly towards three publications in Science and one publication in PNAS. More recently, her area of research has shifted towards building present day and future emission inventories for the shared socioeconomic pathways used by the IPCC and advancing our understanding of the impacts of climate change and air pollution on natural vegetation and food crops.

Dr Bhupinder Singh

Dr Bhupinder Singh Joined the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) as a Scientist (Plant Physiology) in 1991 and was posted at the Nuclear Research Laboratory, Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi in 1992. Presently, he is working as a Principal Scientist and Head at the Centre for Environment Science and Climate Resilient Agriculture (CESCRA), ICAR-IARI. He is also discharging the additional responsibility of the Radiological Safety Officer (RSO), at the ICAR-IARI, New Delhi since 2006. He has more than 25 years of research and teaching experience and has focused his research pursuits in the Key area of nutriophysiology and Radiophysiology. His scientific interests have helped in gaining insight into the role of phytosiderophore biosynthesis in improving Fe-Zn efficiency under limited nutrient availability and in phytoremediation of heavy metals. His other research interests include studies on gaseous and particulate matter pollution response of crops, utilization of SOx and NOX as source of mineral N and S for plants and management of industrial waste. He has more than 90 research publications in reputed international and national journals. He has guided more than 13 PhD and MSc students and has several awards and recognitions to his credit such as ICAR-Lal Bahadur Shastri young scientist award, DST BOYSCAST fellowship, INSA-DAAD International scientific exchange fellowship, RD Asana gold medal, R.H. Dastur (AAAS) awards. His research pursuits have been supported by several of the funding agencies such as DST, ICAR, BARC, Tata Steel Ltd, Ministry of Steel, DBT etc. He is also a fellow of the Indian Society for Plant Physiology (ISPP) and was its elected Vice President for the years 2014-2015. He was a member of the Scientific panel on biological hazard (2009-2015); member, Scientific panel on the genetically modified organisms and foods (2015-2018) and Member of both Panels at FSSAI, Govt. of India (2019-2022).

Theme: Disaster, Life and Livelihood

Dr. Sreeja S. Nair

Dr. Sreeja S. Nair is currently working as Training Curriculum Development Expert (Drought Early Warning) with Regional Integrated Multi Hazard Early Warning System (RIMES) and also with SPHERE India as Advisor- Training Module Development for the SPHERE Academy.`She is a visiting faculty at TERI School of Advanced studies since the year 2018 and teaching the course on Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction for Masters Course.

Before this assignment she was working as DRR Specialist with Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre, Geospatial Analyst with RIMES, Aga Khan Agency for Habitat as EIA Specialist and International Consultant with United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. During this assignment she was supporting Government of India in setting up system for capturing disaster damage and loss databases and monitoring Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction at MHA. She has more than 22 years of experience in DRR and Emergency Response having extensive experience in capacity development, research, hazard vulnerability and risk assessment studies and information management. She has experience in working for major post disaster and capacity building programmes including South Asia Regional Tsunami Recovery Programme (Thailand), Setting up of Environment and Disaster Management Division of Kabul University (2010-2011), Setting up of National Disaster Management Training Centre in Myanmar (2015-2017 and post disaster recovery programme after Kerala Floods 2018. Dr. Nair published 25+ papers in national and international journals, authored 8 training modules as faculty NIDM during 2007-2015. She has authored /edited 5 books on Disaster Risk Management and contributed chapters in several edited books including United Nations University Publications.

Dr.Shubhra Seth

Dr. Shubhra Seth is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi, India. Her areas of academic interest are : Internally Displaced Persons, forced migration and disability studies. Her primary research area is conﬂict-induced internal displacement in South Asia, which she formalised in her PhD from the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She is committed to the assignment of empowering and enabling the displaced and the disabled through the tool of education and continues to work for the same.

Dr. Shailender Kumar

Dr. Shailender Kumar is an Assistant Professor and founder member at Centre for Environmental Studies and Disaster Management, Miranda House, University of Delhi. He is also associated with the National Institute of Disaster Management, Govt of India for the research on Solid waste management in post disaster scenario. He is working in the field of environmental pollution monitoring and assessment since last seven years as junior research fellow and senior research fellow at University of Delhi andalso worked at department of environmental sciences in Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. He taught environmental science as a compulsory subject in different prestigious colleges of Delhi University such as Miranda House, Indraprastha college for women, Hindu college, and Shyama Prasad Mukherji college.He had done Industrial training at the coal-based power plants of North Delhi Power Corporation, Delhi.He had been part of organising team in different environmental pollution related seminars and workshops. His research work focusedon the qualitative and quantitative water, soil and air analysis along with geospatial assessment and mapping of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) distribution in different spheres with special emphasis on risk of mercury exposure. His research outlined that potentially toxic elements (PTEs) including suspected carcinogen were present in threatening concentrations in the settings of NCT, Delhi. He published his work in several national and international reputed journals.

Theme: Forest and Wildlife

Dr. Manoj Kumar

Dr. Manoj Kumar is a senior scientist working as In-charge of GIS centre at Forestry Research Institute (FRI), Dehradun, India. Dr. Kumar primarily works in the field of forestry, environment, climate change, and related interdisciplinary fields with wider applications of Information Technology, Remote Sensing and GIS tools. He has a research experience of more than 15 years. At present he is engaged in developing and validating indicators related to Performance Review and Assessment of Implementation System for reporting to UNCCD for India on behalf of Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education under Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. He has initiated work on developing forest growth simulation model to study functional relationship of forests with the surrounding environment that could be used for climate change impact studies and has published high impact international papers on various themes of forestry, environment and climate change. Prior to joining FRI in the year 2010 he worked in Delhi as Government consultant for guiding the industries of Delhi and NCR for increasing the efficiency of their pollution control devices by doing more than 100 efficacy study of Effluent Treatment Plants, Air Pollution Control devices and other Health Environment and Safety related issues during year 2005 to 2010. He has been associated with projects of national significance as PI and Nodal officer, such as: Forestry interventions for Ganga rejuvenation, Forest resource dependence and ecological assessment of forest fringes in rainfed districts of India, Developing tools, techniques and methods for REDD+ initiatives in India under Forest-PLUS programme of USAID. Presently he is undertaking study on “Climate change vulnerability of Indian forests” for the preparation of third national communication (NATCOM-III) to UNFCCC on behalf of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Govt. of India. He has also initiated work on developing forest vegetation model to define the role and influences of forests with surrounding environment and is engaged in developing indigenous model – ForestInfo.

Dr. Nawin Kumar Tiwary

Dr. Nawin K. Tiwary completed his Ph.D. in Ecology and Conservation from the Department of Environmental Studies, University of Delhi. During his doctoral research, he studied various aspects related to distribution, breeding and occupancy of Painted Storks in North India. He has studied various ecological and environmental factors that can influence nest survival in Painted Stork colonies. He has been actively involved in ecological and biodiversity research with a special interest in colonial waterbirds, urban ecology, wetland studies, and habitat modeling. His current research interest is in understanding the colony dynamics and distribution of stork species outside protected areas in North India. As an avid birdwatcher, he is also involved in popularizing field ornithology and has made several presentations and talks in Delhi. He is also passionate about filming birds and other forms of wildlife and makes small documentaries to showcase some interesting behavior and highlight relevant issues. He is currently working as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Environmental Studies, Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi where he teaches the compulsory Environmental Studies paper to undergraduate students.

Theme: Technology and Innovation

Prof. Anindita Roy Saha

Prof. Anindita Roy Saha is affiliated with the Department of Economics and is the Head of the Department of Environmental Studies, Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi. She is the Coordinator of the Centre for Earth Studies at Indraprastha College, a research and learning centreaimed towards interdisciplinary initiatives for environmental protection and sustainable development. She is a visiting faculty at the Department of Environmental Studies, University of Delhi, where she teaches Environmental Economics and Resource Economics. Dr. Saha has studied at Jadavpur University, Kolkata and Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She obtained her Ph. D degree from JNU in the area of Energy Economics. Her area of specialization is Development Economics with special focus on the Economics of Energy, Environment and Resources. She has been associated with the University of Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru University, University of Delhi South Campus, Ambedkar University Delhi, Nalanda University and Amity University in various academic and professional capacities. She has many scholarly articles in national and international journals to her credit. She has supervised several research projects and participated in international and national level conferences, seminars and workshops in areas covering environmental education, climate change, disaster management and environmental sustainability.

Dr. Abhishek Kumar Mishra

Dr. Abhishek Kumar Mishra is working as Scientific Officer (Meteorology and Climatology) at Department of Planning and Development, Govt of Bihar. He holds a doctorate in Earth and Environemnetal Sciences form the Atmospheric Chemistry and Emissions Research Group, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali. His primary research interests are to develop early warning systems for extreme weather events and Hydro-meteorological hazards. He is also member of the steering committee for development of State Action Plan on Climate Change for Bihar. He is currently working on project related to developing high resolution accurate weather forecasts for different sectors (Agriculture, Disaster Management, Air Quality and Energy) in Bihar. He is also interested in research related to understanding ancient Vedic techniques and its application for Monsoon forecast.

Dr. Chinmoy Sarkar

I am currently working as a senior research and development project manager at Thermo Fisher Scientific in Boston, USA. I am also affiliated to the University of California Irvine, USA where I did my postdoctoral research. I earned my PhD in Analytical Atmospheric Chemistry and have more than 10 years of experience in studying air pollution problems in the urban and rural areas of different continents. My core expertise is in new technology development based on mass spectrometry and spectroscopic methods to quantify air pollutants and how they impact our health and climate. I have contributed as an author/co-author to several high impact peer-reviewed papers on air pollution (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=vxJAeT4AAAAJ&hl=en) and currently serving as the reviewer and guest editor to multiple international journals (https://www.webofscience.com/wos/author/record/173345). I have previously received the Fulbright-Kalam Climate fellowship and Marie-Sklodowska Curie Seal of Excellence for my research contributions.