History

Year of Establishment : 1985

History of the department : Marine Science department was established in the year 1983 as per the UGC guidelines and UNESCO format followed by other prominent World Universities. Our department has acquired sophisticated equipments like GC, AAS, DOC Analyzers, Vivracorer with ion chromatography, Cascade Impactor, Phase contrasting microscope, Marine algal culture incubators etc. Several students got placement in several places in India such as National Institute of Oceanography, Goa; Vizag; CMSRI Bhabnagar; NIOT- Madras; Anna University etc and abroad such as USA, Czechoslovakia, Japan, German; Australia etc.,

Special award/ recognition from UGC or related statutory body : TDST-FIST w.e.f. 2003

Thrust areas in teaching and research of the academic department :

• Coastal Zone Management, coastal accretion-erosion processes and shoreline changes with reference to sea level rise.
• Dynamics of marine and fluvial processes and coastal geomorphology and sedimentology.
• Biodiversity of mangrove ecosystem, physiological ecology of phytoplankton and zooplankton, primary productivity.
• Coastal pollution, Bioaccumulation and Biomagnifications of pollutants in marine/estuarine food chain.
• Aquaculture and fisheries management;
• Marine microbiology.
• Effects of changes of external forces on boundary condition on eutrophication;
• Characterization of humic substances by synchronous Fluorescence Spectroscopy and their interaction with heavy metals.
• Exchange of green house gases between atmosphere and Sunderban Biosphere; Nitrogen fixing by cyanobacteria and othe microorganisms.
• Biogeochemical cycle of elements in the estuarine environments
• Biogeochemistry of trace gases and nutrients in the estuarine environments.
• Decadal changes in Mesozooplankton
• Spatial distribution of phytoplankton, microzooplankton
• Phytoremediation in mangrove plants
• Heavy metal and trace metal in estuarine sediment
• Dissolved trace metals in estuarine water
• Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in sediment and air
• Eutrophication and algal bloom

Teaching support :

• Department regularly organize field work and during that time environmental awareness programme for the local people is also organized.
• During the field trip students are trained for environmental analysis in then onboard laboratory.

Major activities : The department has organized several Invited talks & seminars in regular basis, viz.

• NSRTMES-2013, National seminar on recent trends in Marine and estuarine Science during 21-22 June, 2013;
• National Seminar on Perspective in Environmental and Marine Research : Retrospect and Prospect on 22nd January, 2016.

Department produces a good number of students who have got placement in several places in India such as NIO- Goa; Vizag; CMSRI Bhabnagar; NIOT- Madras; Anna University etc and abroad such as USA, Czechoslovakia, Japan, German; Australia etc.,

Contact

Campus : Taraknath Palit Sikshaprangan (Ballygunge Science College)

Address for communication : Department of Marine Science, Calcutta University, 7th Floor, Ballygunge Science College; 35, B.C. Road, Kolkata-700019