EVENTS

Like every year students and faculty members of the Department of Zoology along with the Departments of Geography, Environmental Science and Industrial Fish and Fisheries took part in WAR (Wildlife Awareness Rally) organized by Anubhav - A Kolkata based NGO on 14 December, Sunday, 2025. The megaevent spreads strong message to citizens of Kolkata regarding wildlife conservation, threats to biodiversity etc. Our students along with the students from many other colleges aired slogans, presented placards and posters over various issues related to wildlife conservation. Approximately 80 students and 04 faculty members and 01 non-teaching staff have attended the event. 

Alumni meet cum reunion has been organized by the Department of Zoology  on 07-12-2025 to celebrate the bond between the past and the present. The event was warm and beautiful with a bouquet of cultural events had been organized where so many present and past students participated actively. More than 68 alumni, both young and senior had attended the program along with retired faculty members. The day was filled with the air of recollecting memories, motivations for the new batches and light moments. The Footprints Forever Award has been conferred to one prospering student from undergraduate for their exceptional achievements in B.Sc. examinations. 

Special Lecture organized by the Applied Immunology unit of the Department of Zoology, to be held on 08-11-2025, Saturday, 2 pm. Dr. Gayatri Mukherjee, Associate Professor, School of Medical Science and Technology, IIT, KHARAGPUR, delivered an interactive lecture as a distinguished speaker titled "CD8 T cells: More than just killers". In this connection, Applied Immunology students from our postgraduate colleges were present at our colleges.

In the 10th chapter of the Ahaan Alumni Lecture Series, the department proudly offered the speaker's platform to a budding researcher from the Wildlife Institute of India, Smt. Malyasri Bhattacharya, Zoological Society, London EDGE fellow and Habitat Trust Fellow, is working on a unique project on White-rumped Vultures (Gyps bengalensis). She talked on "Wings of Hope: Conserving the Vanishing Vultures of Himachal Pradesh, India. The lecture was held on 04-11-2025, Tuesday, 12 o'clock. 

Students of the Department of Zoology took the initiative to feed street children a happy lunch on 14 October 2025 through crowdfunding. The event was arranged with the active support of IQAC, Asutosh College. We have received a response from approximately 50 street children which made the event a successful one. 

Shri Sanjib Kumar Das, from Jhargram Raj College, Jhargram has delivered a lecture as a part of faculty exchange programme under MoU between Jhargram Raj College and Asutosh College The lectures was on Operon Concept, which served the students of Semester 4 immensely to prepare for their university exams.  The event took place in an online platform on 28 June, 2025 in evening 7 pm. Gmeet link: https://meet.google.com/kpu-aqeb-iec 

An educational trip has been conducted for the Zoology (H) curriculum under NEP on Applied Entomology to Ramakrishna Ashram Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Nimpith, Sundarban on 12 February 2025. RKM-KVK maintains an integrated facility for apiary, animal husbandry, poultry, and agriculture on their sprawling campus. Students got to experience operational setup under the supervision of Departmental faculty and a specially appointed expert Mr. Tapas Sahana, of RAKVK. Economic approaches to utilizing biodiversity as a bioresource are a learning experience for everyone to create entrepreneurship and sustainable mindsets.

An educational trip has been conducted for the Zoology (H) curriculum under NEP on Animal Husbandry to State Poultry, Tollygunge on 22 January 2025. Students got to experience operational setup under the supervision of Departmental faculty and a specially appointed expert Mrs XXXXXXXXXX, of State Poultry Economic approaches to utilizing biodiversity as a bioresource are a learning experience for everyone to create entrepreneurship and sustainable mindsets.

"Ahaan" Lecture Series # 08 & 09 were arranged on 17th January 2025 where two eminent Alumni delivered lectures in front of present students. Dr. Sajal Bhattacharya addressed the "Philosophy, Purpose and Passion in the Life Science Research" and Dr. Ritam Bhattacharya delivered the "Challenges for Delivery of Different Ecosystem Services in the Farm Systems and Beyond". The program was attended by 58 students from both undergraduate and postgraduate and six faculty members.

An educational trip to the Rabindra Sarovar in South Kolkata was held on 17 December 2024. 09 Students of 5th-semester Zoology (H)  participated in the excursion under supervision of Dr. Deep Chandan Chakraborty, Dr. Subhabrata Ghosh & Dr. Satabdi Nandi. As an outcome, students developed insight into urban green spaces, biodiversity assessment studies, animal sampling, transect analysis and birding activities. 

Like every year students and faculty members of the Department of Zoology took part in WAR (Wildlife Awareness Rally) organized by Anubhav - A Kolkata based NGO on 8 December, Sunday, 2024. The megaevent spreads strong message to citizens of Kolkata regarding wildlife conservation, threats to biodiversity etc. Our students along with the students from many other colleges aired slogans, presented placards and posters over various issues related to wildlife conservation. In total 28 students and 2 faculty members registered for the event. 

An educational trip to the Eastern Ghats wilderness areas in Orissa was held on and from 13 to 16 November 2024. The study area was the Kuldiha Wildlife Sanctuary and the vanishing beach of Chandipur facing the Bay of Bengals. 41 Students of 5th-semester Zoology (H)  participated in the excursion under supervision of three departmental faculty members (Dr Deep Chandan Chakraborty, Dr Subhabrata Ghosh & Dr Satabdi Nandi). As an outcome, students developed insight into biodiversity assessment studies, animal sampling, transect analysis, canopy profiling and coastal zonation study. 

The department have organized yet another Lecture series called InterACT with young researchers in the field of animal ecology and conservation. The purpose of this platform is to nurture the zeal of taking up field research from the very beginning of our studenthood. There are so many things to see, study, develop and implement ongoing with studies. The present lecture would be in online platform where an young researcher Smt. Kangkana Pal, from Bombay Natural History Society, India will address an interesting study on Nature-Culture Interaction through documenting Bat communities of South Indian temple village. For this she availed a fellowship which you students can also apply if you have the timely information and awareness. The event will take place on 29 October, 2024.

Department of Zoology has been the collaborative partner of Save the Frogs! India in a Global outreach program to spread public awareness in favour of Frog conservation. Participants from various corners of India and abroad (USA and Switzerland) participated in an essay writing competition and a frog call recording survey as a part of training students to conduct citizen science ventures. Students from schools and colleges, research scholars & faculty members wrote essays and sent them to the organizers. Best entries were recognized with a certificate of excellence and the selected essays were published (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EqtZUwBm-vm-9Ri1gpZbF9eL6ktN4o02/view?usp=drive_link) in the global bulletin of Save the Frog for wide reach.  The event was held in June 2024.

Alumni meet cum reunion has been organized by the Department of Zoology  on 09-06-2024 to celebrate the bond between the past and the present. The event was warm and beautiful with a bouquet of cultural events had been organised where so many present and past students participated actively. More than 80 alumni, both young and senior had attended the program along with retired faculty members. The day was filled with the air of recollecting memories, motivations for the new batches and light moments. The Footprints Forever Award has been conferred to two prospering students from undergraduate and postgraduate for their exceptional achievements. 

Faculty cum students exchange program have been organised between the Department of Zoology, Raiganj Surendranath Mahavidyalaya and the Department of Zoology of Asutosh College. Dr Arijit Pal, Assistant Professor, Department of Zoology, Raiganj Surendranath Mahavidyalaya delivered a faculty exchange lecture in front of the departmental students on "AI-Guided Raman Spectroscopy in Clinical Diagnosis" on 17th May 2024. Students get enriched by the deliberation and the event turned into highly interactive one. 

Asutosh College and Maulana Azad College jointly visited the instrumentation facility of Bose Institute New Town campus for hands-on experience on  07-05-2024. The event had been under the MoU activity between two colleges.  4th semester  PG of Department of Zoology and 4th semester Microbiology students  have participated in the visit team.

Faculty cum student exchange program have been organised between the Department of Microbiology of Maulana Azad College and the Department of Zoology of Asutosh College. Dr. Samudra Prosad Banik from  Maulana Azad College and Dr Satabdi Nandi from Asutosh College delivered lectures on the Principles and biological application of UV-VIS and Fluorescence spectroscopy and Flow cytometric concept and application in biomedical research. Participants were assembled from departments of both colleges. The event has created a platform for discussing high-end instrumentation in an informal classroom facility. 

Date of event: 06-05-2024.

Expected outcome: knowledge sharing, and concept clearing of sophisticated instrumentation techniques useful for molecular biology and biomedical research. The deliberation enables students to enhance their understanding before visiting the instrumentation faculty of a central research institute

An intra-departmental quiz programme is going to be held on 25th April 2024 from 2:30 pm. onwards at the Zoology Department, Asutosh College. SEM-II, IV, and VI from UG and SEM-II from PG can take part in this programme. students are requested to fill up the Google form given below and submit it by 22nd April 2024 positively.

REGISTRATION FORM 

Faculty cum students exchange program have been organised between the Department of Zoology, Darjeeling Government College and the Department of Zoology of Asutosh College. Dr Prantik Hazra, Assistant Professor, Department of Zoology, Darjeeling Government College delivered a faculty exchange lecture in front of the departmental students on "Game Theory and Strategic Behaviour" on 23rd April 2023. Students get enriched by the deliberation and the event turned into highly interactive one.

An Offline Alumni talk have been organized by the Department where Dr. Mohona Gupta, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, University of Massachusetts,Chan Medical School, USA has delivered a discipline-specific lecture titled "Molecular Mechanism Behind Blindness" to the students and faculty members of Department of Zoology, Asutosh College on 09th April 2024. The program was attended by 63 students from both undergraduate and postgraduate, six faculty members and one senior alumni.

As per the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), dated: 12-01-2024 between Asutosh College and Banoarilal Bhalotia College, Asansol, Dr. Arnab Ganguly, Assistant Professor and Head, Department of Zoology, Banoarilal Bhalotia College, Asansol has delivered a discipline-specific lecture titled "Animal Phylogeny and its Evolutionary Implications" to the students and faculty members of Department of Zoology, Asutosh College on 09th April 2024.  The program was attended by 63 students from both undergraduate and postgraduate, six faculty members and one senior alumni.

Department of Zoology of Asutosh College and RKM Vidyamandira, Belur had jointly organized a one-day National-level Satellite Symposium on Contributions of Remote Sensing - Geographic Information Systems (RS-GIS) & Artificial Intelligence (AI) on opening new research sphere in Biological Sciences on 22nd March 2023 under memorandum of understanding.  Three eminent speakers from Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) and Adamas University delivered lectures on the theme and 70 posters were presented by the participants from various colleges, universities and national institutes.  

YouTube link: https://youtu.be/GNM_VpvtR1U?si=NjSI1ICGlCbhp2t5

Final Report 

Department of Zoology and Botany in collaboration with IQAC and Research and Development Cell, Asutosg College organized a seminar on Research Methodology and Intellectual Property Rights on 05th March 2024 in a blended mode.  The event was attended by almost 100 students and more than 12 teachers in offline mode. Renowned speaker Professor Basab Choudhuri, Director of Education, Heritage Group of Institutes, and Principal, Heritage Institute of Technology delivered a motivational talk on research methodology and mindset. Dr. Mohua Hom Choudhuri, Senior Scientist and Nodal Officer,  Patent and Trademark Attorney, WBSCST, DSB, WB spoke on various intellectual property right-related issues relevant to scientific research. 

YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/live/Hzo8ZIkwmCM?si=hPkDe5uDXFYmuOLh

Prajna - a compilation of memoirs is being presented as a small tribute by the Department of Zoology to an individual whose dedication to his work has assumed legendary proportions. Dr. Bhattacharya is an academician par excellence and one of this institution’s brightest alumni. Department of Zoology of Asutosh College has published a book on him to make his Golden Jubilee Association (1973 - 2023) with the Department and the Institution, very very special & memorable.  The Book is a collection of special write-ups by his eminent associates sent from all corners of the globe.  On 29th February 2024, the book was officially inaugurated in the presence of institute head, IQAC coordinator and Governing Body members.

The Department has celebrated National Science Day to contribute to the Tradition of Scientific outlook and inquisition of this anciently awakened country, India.  As a country, we are always the seekers of knowledge, innovators of humble lifestyles, and now the global competitors in the field of science and technology. The theme for National Science Day 2024 is 'Indigenous Technologies for Viksit Bharat'.  The theme emphasises the focus of the public on promoting scientific, technological, and innovation skills.  The day is celebrated in India to commemorate the discovery of the 'Raman Effect' by Indian physicist Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman on 28 February 1928. The Raman Effect is the phenomenon of the scattering of light when it passes through a transparent material, leading to a change in its wavelength and energy. This discovery was a significant contribution to the field of physics and earned Sir C.V. Raman the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930, making him the first Indian to receive this prestigious award in science.

On this occasion, we had an opportunity to meet and listen to one of our successful Indian & Bengali zoologists doing research in a leading country like China. Prof. Santashree Banerjee, from Jilin University, Changchun, China delivered a lecture on "Genomic Sequencing for Genetic Molecular Diagnostics for Rare Diseases and Cancer" on 28th February 2024, Wednesday. 

As per the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), dated: 12-01-2024 between Asutosh College and Barrackpore Rasthraguru Surendranath College, Dr. Sandip Pal, Assistant Professor, Department of Zoology, Barrackpore Rasthraguru Surendranath College has delivered a discipline-specific lecture titled "Population Growth and Fluctuation Model" to the students and faculty members of Department of Zoology, Asutosh College on 09th February 2024.  The program was attended by 76 students from both undergraduate and postgraduate, six faculty members and one senior alumni.

An educational trip has been conducted for the Zoology honours curriculum under NEP on Applied Entomology to Ramakrishna Ashram Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Nimpith, Sundarban on 06 February 2024. RKM-KVK maintains an integrated facility of apiary, animal husbandry, poultry and agriculture in their sprawling campus. Students got to experience operational setup under the supervision of Departmental faculty and a specially appointed expert Mr. Tapas Sahana, of RAKVK. Economic approaches to utilising biodiversity as a bioresource are a learning experience for everyone to create entrepreneurship and sustainable mindsets.

Films and documentaries open up the horizon of audio-visual understanding in young minds. After the screening, an interactive session was held on film appreciation. The Postgraduate Department of Zoology organized the event in collaboration with IQAC, Asutosh College. The event was held on 11 October 2023 at the departmental laboratory. 

Film Appreciation talk by Toushali Raina, Department of Political Science, Asutosh College. 

Event Details: 

Show 1 - 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm - Pather Panchali by Satyajit Ray

Show 2 - 3:30 pm to 4:20 pm - The Elephant Whisperers by Kartiki Gonsalves ‎ 

The department occasionally took part in extension activities where they reached out to the community to help by spending time, providing essentials most importantly building a bond. On 6th October 2024 students of undergraduate course visited a nearby Old age home - NABANIR. There they met with the elderly members and put up an excellent cultural event which included Agamoni - An autumnal home coming of Devi Durga. The event ends up with cultural cross-talk between two age groups and the eventual handing over of essentials.  

The department organizes behavioural surveys of captive animals on 26th April 2023 at Alipore Zoological Garden, Kolkata. Students were divided into groups, briefed about the survey requirements, supplied with a detailed questionnaire (in Google form format) and asked to review relevant literature before the visit.  Then students were divided into groups and each group was assigned a particular animal to study. The groups were Team Proboscid (Asian Elephant), Team Carnivore (focussed on tiger & leopard), Herbivore (focussed on Giraffe and Brow-Antler Deer), Aves (Macaw) and Primate (Chimpanzee). The students of each group were directed to study the behavioural traits of their assigned animal group before the visit.  The study was divided into five parts- Ad libitum sampling, time-budget analysis, focal sampling of individual animals, a phased survey of major behaviours exhibited by the animal and scan sampling. 

Objective: 

• Behavioural Survey wild animals in a captive environment  

• To learn how to prepare an Ethogram on a target animal group  

• Get acquainted with standard field procedures of animal behaviour study (Ad libitum sampling, time-budget analysis, 

• focal sampling of individual animals, a phased survey and scan sampling) 

Smt. Lopamudra Mukherjee SACT, Department of Zoology delivered a talk on " Spectrum of Cancer and Carcinogenesis".  The seminar was held on 11th April, 2023. 

Dr. A. R. D. Mustafizur Rahaman, Assistant Professor, Department of Zoology delivered a talk on " Hypertension - The Silent Killer". The seminar was held on. 22th March, 2023. 

Wildlife Awareness Rally is organised annually by a Non-Government O organization named Anubhab. Over the years this rally has been the spectacle of the city, participated by schools and colleges from Kolkata and surroundings. In the sixth chapter of their rally prominent personalities from the social sphere joined steps with students of different academic institutions to make it a grand success.  Department of Zoology, Asutosh College always participated in this rally since its inception as a solidarity to green theme.

The rally has a pivotal role in developing awareness of nature and wildlife in the urban community.  The rally begins from Asutosh College on a Sunday morning (13, Nov 2022) with colourful posters and cutouts made by school and college students, graffiti from nature-loving NGOs, and public figures, under close supervision of Kolkata police. Our students’ chants and shouts for nature and wildlife, fill the city air with great positivisty.

Dr Tapan Kumar Roy, Assistant Professor, Department of Zoology delivered a talk on "Insect-Plant interactions with special emphasis on plant defence against insect herbivore". The seminar was held on 27th September 2022. 

To commemorate the 125th anniversary of the greatest scientific discovery ever: The malaria-mosquito connection, an online seminar has been arranged on 20th August 2022 in the presence of  Prof. A. P. Dash, Hon'ble Vice-Chancellor Asian Institute of Public Health University, Prof. B. K. Tyagi, President, Society of Medical Arthropodology, Hyderabad and Dr Rina Tilak, Scientist ‘G’, Department of Community Medicine, Armed Forces Medical College, Maharashtra.  Speakers spoke extensively regarding the discovery made by Sir Ronald Ross. The inextricable relationship between malaria and mosquitoes was discussed, significance of this path-breaking scientific discovery was explained in a simple yet effective way to the students.  Students were acquainted with the science of vector biology and control of vectors. 

Expected outcome

• Revisiting the history of malaria discovery, vector-borne disease scenarios were then presented with special reference to Malaria and mosquitoes.

• Exchange of thoughts by leading scientists in the field of vector-borne disease from India. 

• Awareness of malaria facts and the role of mosquitoes as vectors. 

YouTube Link:   https://www.youtube.com/live/W0KoLnef0xE?si=4_81syQIuPmn6JZ5 

Department of Zoology in association with IQAC, Asutosh College celebrated the International Day for Biological Diversity on 22nd May 2024. The day was observed by organizing an online webinar. Dr. Pratyush  Kumar Mahapatra, Scientist, Zoological Survey of India delivered an informative lecture on biological diversity.  

The workshop on “Introduction to the components of Remote sensing and its potential in ecosystem analysis” was held online mode for training postgraduate Zoology students about hands-on habitat mapping on 06 & 08 MAY 2022. Mr Agnish Kumar Das, a research scholar at the Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, India and Alumni served as the resource person during the programme. About 40 students benefitted from the initiative. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has snatched many things from us. Field-based subjects are running without the charm of an educational tour. That is where they get to embrace nature and wildlife at its best. The Postgraduate Department of Zoology had celebrated the Wildlife Week (from 03-03-2022 to 10-03-2022). 

As a part of this event, the department commemorated the life and contributions of renowned Shri Buddhadeb Guha, a distinguished Bengali Novelist and a lifelong forest lover. Along with him, tribute was paid to Professor Ratanlal Brahmachari, renowned Biochemist, Globe trotter and Ethologist of versatile calibre. Renowned wildlife photographer and ace author Shri Rajarshi Banerjee delivered a memorial lecture on Novelist Buddhadeb Guha. Professor Ratanlal Brahmachari was commemorated by his close disciple Dr. Silanjan Bhattacharya, Professor, West Bengal State University on this occasion. 

One interactive event where a wildlife short film show - "Tale of a Bengali Forg" held in the presence of its director Dr. Jyotirmoy Deb and Founder of WISH FOUNDATION, Kolkata, Smt. Sarbani Nag. An inter-college photography and essay competition was arranged.

Our partners:  NIWSES, WISH FOUNDATION, Kolkata

YouTube Links:  https://www.youtube.com/live/E0Rjh0AwvCU?si=JUYskc0f4DR1yDqF , https://www.youtube.com/live/XCBCxBSXU2E?si=sB1fREtuwoQ7xNxz 

YouTube Link :  https://www.youtube.com/live/FYpd7gDBwUQ?si=JClrz53bvkqQuYpX

Yet another pandemic endeavour from students. Concerns for the environment and urban ecosystem had taken a new bend after the harsh realisation, of what the COVID pandemic taught to us. Since humans put unbearable pressure on nature and a huge footprint on nature, sometimes it pays back. Poor equilibrium in biodiversity, habitat fragmentation, and climate change leads to the emergence and reemergence of deadly viruses and challenges global community health. Students in home isolation penned down and sketched out their emotions for the environment itself. Many have posted photographs which all combined into a special pdf booklet. More than anything, this effort lifted their spirit amidst stressed confinement.

Booklet prepared by students during the COVID-19 pandemic...

The pandemic period was a tough time for the education fraternity. Continuing academics while staying at home, without the contact of teachers, classrooms wasn't easy. The department has tried to keep the students busy and boosted all the time through various events such as the celebration of days of global priority. In this connection, Earth Day was observed by them by putting their views, and voices on a digital wall. They expressed their concerns while the department collated them together in one document, and circulated among peers and beyond. The initiative aptly named "The Thurnberg Effect" links with the youth environmentalist who recently received huge popularity for her daunting activism.

Earth Day Graphities ...