Nalanda Diary

Dean In-Charge:

Dr. Satyanarayan Shashtri

The School of Ecology and Environment Studies has made significant contributions to environmental research and innovation:

Invited Lectures

• 29 May: Delivered an invited lecture on “Climate Change and its impacts on the regional level specifically in the Eastern region of India including the state of Bihar” at the Regional Conference on Climate Change, Mitigation and Adaptation organized by Bihar State Disaster Management Authority (BSDMA), Govt. of Bihar, India.

External Examiner

• 1-2 July 2025: For Practical/Viva-Voce/ Dissertation for MSc Geology (Semesters IV & II) at the Department of Geology, Sikkim University (Central University).

Events Organized

• 7 May 2025: Organized a lecture on “Tropospheric ozone. Pollution; Environmental and agricultural implications” by Prof. Madhoolika Agrawal (JC Bose National Fellow, Botany Department, Banaras Hindu University) at the School of Ecology and Environment Studies, Nalanda University.

Events Attended

• 16 May 2025: Board of Studies (BoS) meeting of the BSc (Hons.) Computer Science and Data Science Programme offered under the Department of Computer and Computational Science at Tribhuvan College, Nalanda University Centre, Neemrana, Rajasthan.

• 17 April 2025: Board of Studies Meeting for an integrated B.A./B.Sc.(Hon.) Environment and Sustainable Development Studies in the Department of Environmental Sciences at Tribhuvan College of Environment and Development Sciences, Nalanda University Centre, Neemrana.

• April 2025: Attended the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR)-Foundation Day Program organized by the ICCR Regional Office, Patna; April 2025.

Research Publication/ Supervision Manuscript under Preparation/ Process

• Shashtri, S.N., Kumar. A et al. Air Quality Dynamics and Environmental Assessment in West Africa: A Spatio-Technical Study of Freetown, Sierra Leone. To be submitted in Environment Monitoring and Assessment.

• Shashtri, S.N., Prakas.S.,Singh.C.K.,et al. Groundwater Potential Zone Mapping in Rohtas, Bihar: A Geospatial Approach. Frontiers in Engineering and Built Environment

• Hasan, A.B., Shashtri, S.N., Kumar. A et al. Flood Hazard Zonation in Sylhet, Bangladesh: A Geo Spatial Approach.

• Prabhu, N., Shashtri, S.N., Kumar. A et al. Landslide Susceptibility Mapping in Wyanad, India: A GIS-based multicriteria decision analysis approach.

• ∙ Wangchuk, S., Shashtri, S.N., Kumar. A et al. Landslide Susceptibility Mapping In Western Bhutan Using Geospatial Techniques And Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis

• Chhetri., R, Kumar., A., Magry., M.A. et al., Gender Perception on Climate Change Impacts, its Adaptive Measures in Indoor Environment and Water Quality: A Case in Thimphu, Bhutan. Submitted in Journal of Environment Management, Elsevier, IF: 8.0.

Dissertations Supervised (International)

• Malakai Tadulala. Groundwater Exploration Using An Integrated Approach Of Remote Sensing, GIS- Artificial Intelligence (Machine Learning), And Geophysics Survey

• Demarcation of Groundwater Potential Zones: Case Study of Nadi, Viti Levu Island, Fiji. College of Engineering and Technical Vocational Education and Training (CETVET), Fiji National University, Fiji Islands:

Faculty:

Dr. Sayan Bhattacharya

Patent Granted on 30 June 2025

• Patent has been granted by the Patent Office, Government of India to the patentee for an invention entitled ‘Methylene Blue Dye Removal using Biochar Derived from Leaf and Stem of Lantana Camara L.’ for the term of 20 years from the 7th day of May 2024 in accordance with the provisions of the Patents Act,1970. Patent No. 568148. Date of grant: 30/06/2025.
• Name of Inventor(s): 1. Deepa Kundu 2. Prabhakar Sharma 3. Sayan Bhattacharya 4. Kaushik Gupta 5. Shubhalakshmi Sengupta 6. Jianying Shang.

International Peer-reviewed Journal Publications

• Isingoma Charles Lwanga, Sayan Bhattacharya, Satarupa Dey, Sayanti Mandal, Kaushik Gupta, Jayanta Kumar Biswas, Shubhalakshmi Sengupta, Michael Watts (2025). Phytoremediation of arsenic: A state-of-the-art review with special emphasis on modern biotechnological approaches. Total Environment Engineering (Elsevier), Vol. 2, 100014.

• Satarupa Dey, Avishek Talukdar, Sayan Bhattacharya (2025). Microbial degradation and valorization of food wastes: waste to wealth approaches towards sustainability. Discover Chemistry (Springer-Nature), Vol. 2, 147.
• Sudipta Chakraborty, Avishek Talukdar, Satarupa Dey, Sayan Bhattacharya (2025). Role of fungi, bacteria and microalgae in bioremediation of emerging pollutants with special reference to pesticides, heavy metals and pharmaceuticals. Discover Environment Journal (Springer-Nature), Vol. 3, 91.

• Isingoma Charles Lwanga, Avishek Talukdar, Sudipta Chakraborty, Sayan Bhattacharya (2025). Bioremediation of fluoride: Potential of Bacteria, Plants, and Plant-microbe interactions in fluoride removal from the environment. Geomicrobiology Journal (Taylor and Francis). (Accepted on June 21, 2025; in press).

Book Chapters

• Kelvin Mutugi Kithaka, Kumar Abhishek, Nidhi Mourya, Sayan Bhattacharya (2025). Application of Water Hyacinth in Toxic Metal Phytoremediation with Special Reference to Arsenic. In: Kumar, A., Kumar, S., Ratna, S. (eds) Nature‑Based Wastewater Treatment Systems: Emerging Approaches with Potential Resource Recovery Options. Taylor and Francis, England, pp. 273-284. (ISBN no. 978-1-003-44114-4).
• Arkajyoti Shome, Sayan Bhattacharya, Deep Chakraborty, Satarupa Dey (2025). Heavy Metals (As, Cd, Hg, Pb) Contamination and Bioaccumulation in Estuarine and Marine Ecosystems with Special Reference to Asia. In: Dey, S., Bhattacharya, S. (eds) Biotechnological Interventions in the Removal of Emerging Pollutants. Interdisciplinary Biotechnological Advances. Springer, Singapore, pp. 271-288. (ISBN No. 978-981-97-9921-3).

Edited Book:

• Satarupa Dey and Sayan Bhattacharya (Eds.). 2025. Biotechnological interventions in the removal of emerging contaminants. Springer-Nature, Singapore. ISBN No. 978-981-97-9921-3.