Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Kanpur

Environmental Sciences


The UN conference on Environment and Development held at Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and World Summit on Sustainable Development at Johannesburg in 2002 have drawn the attention of people around the world towards the deteriorating condition of our environment. It was realized that environmental awareness increases with increasing education among people. The honorable Supreme Court of India has directed U.G.C. to introduce a basic course on environment at every level in college education . U.G.C. has prepared a model curriculum of environmental studies and introduced it as a compulsory course at graduate level. N.C.E.R.T. an A.I.C.T.E. are looking after the environmental education at school level and technical programs, respectively.

The Environmental Sciences department came into existence in 2001 with an initial intake of 30 M.Sc. students, with a view to provide a platform to develop experts from diverse fields, who can play important role to work for the improvement and sustainability of the environment. Now the M.Sc. Intake has gone up to 60. Environmental Sciences is multi disciplinary in its nature. The department has been offering various courses in the semester system related to Ecology, Environmental Aspects of Bio Technology, Chemistry, Hazards Management, and Meteorology. One of the unique features of PG Education in Environmental Sciences is that a student of Final Semester selects any one departmental Elective Course from a group of three courses viz., Environmental Pollution and Control, Environmental Hazards and Environmental &Occupational Health. The MSc. Program also includes industrial visits and seminars besides the program also includes a summer training mandatory for all students. Each M.Sc. (Final) student is also required to carry out a laboratory scale project work and submit a dissertation. The students are free to select and submit their biodata at various research institutes /labs/ organizations of their choice to carry out their project work . These develop practical expertise in students towards problem solving skills and hence generate the employment opportunities for the students.

The various thrust areas of the department are Bioremediation of municipal/industrial waste, detoxification of Xenobiotics, Environmental Impact assessment studies, monitoring of air, water and soil component ,waste characterization and analysis and water conservation and management practices.