Chair: Prof. Poonam Kumria
Coordinator: Prof. Anindita Roy Saha
The Centre for Earth Studies was launched in 2016 with a vision to promote research and learning in areas around sustainable development. It aims to develop environmental awareness and ecological consciousness among the community that will be ready to face the impending challenges of climate change, resource scarcity and environmental degradation. In charting a path towards our common sustainable future, the Centre takes up several activities and research projects for students to work under expert faculty mentorship and external collaboration. The Centre upholds one of the institutional best practices, ‘Shanti Paath’.
The first major project of the Centre was the tree census of the campus in 2017, followed by a bird diversity census in 2018. A research project to estimate the dust capturing capacity of the existing green belt of the campus was carried out in collaboration with the Environmental Pollution Laboratory, Department of Environmental Studies, University of Delhi during 2019-20. While providing solutions for the College campus, the results may have major policy implications for addressing the severe air pollution problem of Delhi. Monitoring of air pollutants and analyzing their chemical composition during Diwali in Delhi was part of another project run in collaboration with the National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi. The latest research project is aimed at calculating the carbon footprint of the campus, which may provide a base for designing energy conservation strategies at a time of the global agenda of creating a low carbon future.
Project Nidaan, a running project of the Centre is aimed to create a waste-neutral campus by running a comprehensive waste management program including plastic and e-waste collection for scientific disposal, waste paper collection for recycling, leaf composting and kitchen waste management. The guiding principles of the project are sensitization, adaptation and community participation.
The Centre, in association with the Department of Environmental Studies of the College, has been organizing add-on certificate courses on topical themes, such as, ‘Disaster risk preparedness’, ‘Ecology, environment and sustainability’ and ‘Climate, community and conservation’. Eminent speakers have delivered lectures on specialized topics and enlightened a large audience from all over India.
Seminars, talks and workshops are organized regularly as a part of the green capacity building initiatives. The Centre has organized workshops on varied themes, ranging from wildlife conservation to health impact of indoor air quality. Seminars have been conducted by several national and international experts as well as institutions and organizations working in the relevant area. Other activities include bird watching, wildlife rescue, biodiversity trails within and outside campus and so on. The associated faculty members work tirelessly to instill in the younger generation, a holistic sense of environmental peace, harmony and green living on a sustainable planet.