DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE (ENS)
The Department offers graduate programs leading to MS and Ph.D. degrees.
Faculty members: Dr. Md. Abul Hossain Molla, Professor; Dr. Md. Manjurul Haque, Professor; Dr. Mohammad Zahangeer Alam, Associate Professor, Dr. Md. Raihan Talukder, Associate Professor and Md Khaled Mosharaf, Assistant Professor.
Adjunct Faculty: Dr. Moin Us Salam, Senior Consultant, CIMMIYT, Dhaka.
Research Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Muhammad Aslam Ali, Dept. of Environmental Science, Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), Mymensingh; Dr. Md. Khairul Alam, Senior Scientific Officer, Soil Science Division, BARI.
Minimum Course and Research Requirement for M.S. and Ph.D. Degree1
1. MS Degree
| A. Major Courses | Cr. | Minor Courses | Cr. | |||
| 1a. Core | 15 | 2a. Core | 3 | |||
| ENS 501 | Principles of Environmental Science | 3 | STT 501 | Methods of Statistics | 3 | |
| ENS 525 | Waste Management | 3 | ||||
| ENS 535 | Environmental Microbiology | 3 | ||||
| ENS 545 | Environmental Hazards and Disaster Management | 3 | ||||
| ENS 565 | Environmental Chemistry | 3 | ||||
| 1b. Elective 6 | 2b. Elective 6 | |||||
| ENS 510 | Environmental Pollution and Agriculture | 3 | SSC 501 | Soil Chemistry | 3 | |
| ENS 515 | Agrometeorology | 3 | CBT 507 | Plant Ecology I | 3 | |
| ENS 521 | Ecology | 3 | ENT 508 | Biological Control | 3 | |
| ENS 531 | Population and Environment | 3 | FBE 510 | Fish Biodiversity and Aquatic Environment | 3 | |
| ENS 541 | Global Warming and Climate Change | 3 | AFE 521 | Environmental Pollution & Protection | 3 | |
| ENS 556 | Energy Resource and Environment | 3 | AFE 523 | GIS and Remote Sensing for NRM | 3 | |
| ENS 575 | Organic Farming and Food Safety | 3 | AGR 530 | Microclimate | 3 | |
| ENS 581 | Wastewater and Wetland Environment | 3 | BTL 532 | Environmental Biotechnology and Biosafety | 3 | |
| ENS 590 | Environmental Impact Assessment and Regulations | 3 | PLP 540 | General Microbiology | 3 | |
| ENS 610 | Environmental Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering | 3 | HRT 541 | Research Methodology | 3 | |
| ENS 620 | Environmental Toxicology | 3 | SSC 556 | Soil and Water Conservation | 3 | |
| AGR 601 | Crop Ecology | 3 | ||||
| ENT 605 | Environmental Toxicology of Pesticide | 3 | ||||
| AGR 610 | Climate Change and Crop Production | 3 | ||||
| CBT 610 | Stress Physiology | 3 | ||||
| AFE 618 | Biodiversity Conservation and Management | 3 | ||||
| SSC 642 | Environment and Soil Pollution | 3 | ||||
| Other Courses2 | ||||||
| B. Seminar | 1 | |||||
| ENS 598 | Seminar | 1 | ||||
| C. Thesis Research | 12 | |||||
| ENS 599 Thesis Research variable | ||||||
1Degree requirements may be changed on the recommendation of BOS and the Student’s Advisory Committee
2Approved by the Student’s Advisory Committee
Content of the Courses:
ENS 501 Principles of Environmental Science (3 cr): Overview of environment, atmosphere: composition, ecological significance of vertical layers of atmosphere; ecosystem: natural vs. agro-ecosystem, ecosystem services, nutrient cycling; biodiversity: levels, hotspots, bio-wealth, ecological critical areas of Bangladesh, agro-biodiversity and food security, IUCN Red list categories and criteria, conservation; major environmental issues: pollution, land degradation, greenhouse gases, global warming, climate change, resource- and ozone depletion; environmental management: greenhouse gas mitigation in agriculture, carbon sequestration, waste management, organic farming, environmental quality management standard: ISO 14000 series; introduction to environmental friendly bio-products, environmental laws, environmental ethics.
ENS 510 Environmental Pollution and Agriculture (3 cr.): Pollution: concept, types, process and causes; pollutants: outline, characteristics, nature, classes, history and sources of air-water and soil pollutants (NOx, SOx, ozone, CFCs, VOCs, POPs, smog, PM, sewage sludge, industrial effluents and heavy metals); resource pollution: air, water and soil pollution, present status, characteristics, impacts on crops, fisheries, animals and human health in Bangladesh; prevention and mitigation: significance, scope, techniques, policy and regulation.
ENS 515 Agrometeorology (3 cr.): Climate and the atmosphere: scope of climatology, nature and division of atmosphere; heat and temperature: solar radiation, radiation budget, variability and distribution; metrology and micrometeorology: concept, scope, importance, application; water resources: rainfall, precipitation, water budget, water conservation, water cycle; climate, vegetation and soils: climatic variation with latitude, longitude and altitude distribution of vegetation; climate and agriculture: climatic factors in relation to flora and fauna.
ENS 521 Ecology (3 cr.): Concept, importance, scope, history, branches, different spheres, components and factors; ecosystem: composition, classification, structure, function, services, cut-off, drivers, food web/chains, energy flow, biogeochemical and resources cycles of ecosystem, natural and artificial ecosystems; natural selection: fitness and adaptation, species interactions, competitions; population ecology: demography, population growth, exponential and logistic growth model, population dynamics; community ecology: structural attributes, qualitative and quantitative characters, vegetation analysis and classification; succession; biomes: terrestrial and aquatic biomes, characteristics, distribution and related environmental factors.
ENS 525 Waste Management (3 cr.): Waste: concept, significance, risks and problems, types: liquid (wastewaters, sewage sludge, effluents and leachate), solid (MSW, kitchen waste, agro-wastes and plastics), domestic, industrial, medical, putrescible/non-putrescible, hazardous waste ( nature, classes, rules of transportation and disposal, TRIC, placards), e-waste and radionuclide, composition, characteristics, sources, scenario in global and Bangladesh aspects and impacts; management: outline, importance, principle, policy and regulation, scope, methods/treatments (segregation, collection, transportation, pyrolysis, gasification, liquefaction, supercritical water oxidation, digestion, biodegradation, composting, hierarchy, proximate analysis, 5Rs); disposals: scope, significance, dumping, incineration, landfill, sea disposal, lagooning, impacts; utilization: importance, scopes, prospects, process, land utilization, energy generation and materials recycle.
ENS 531 Population and Environment (3 cr.): Population dynamics: factors affecting population change, birth and death rates, migration, demography transition model for developed and developing nations, Bangladesh models; population and environmental sources: impacts on agriculture, water, forest losses, atmosphere and climate, energy and species extinction, population and biogeochemical cycles, population and deforestation; population and social environment, population policy and planning: Policy implications of population growth and density, migration, urbanization, agricultural innovations, and technology transfer; family planning.
ENS 535 Environmental Microbiology (3 cr.): Overview of basic microbiological concepts; modern classification of microbes; fungi: structure, diversity, and ecological considerations; bacteria: cell envelope, appendages, and their environmental significance, glycocalyx producing bacteria; archaea: classification, role in methane emission and nitrification; microbial analysis: sampling, processing, detection, enumeration and identification; microbial gums, polysaccharide and metabolites in the formation of soil architecture, soil aggregation and soil erosion control; airborne microbes: airborne toxins, bioaerosols; microbes in aquatic environments: biofilms, pellicles and microbial mats, and their application in pollution control; microbes in extreme environments, microbial functions: biogeochemical transformation, spoilage of food, biodegradation of organic and metal pollutants, probiotics, biopesticides, bioenergy and bioterrorism.
ENS 541 Global Warming and Climate Change (3 cr.): Global warming: Concept, history, signs and causes; fundamental processes: solar variability, orbital mechanics, atmospheric and oceanic circulation; greenhouse gases: past and present concentrations, global warming potential, atmospheric life time and radiative forcing; measurement of gas fluxes, capture and storage of carbon dioxide, ozone hole in relation to global warming; gas cycles; modeling effect of global temperature and sea level rise; consequences, impacts and adjustment to potential global warming; climate: components, climate types, climatic zones, characteristics, Köppen Climate Classification (KCC); climate change: causes and roles of El Niño and La Niña, drivers, indicators, impacts and consequences, conventions and protocols: CC, IPCC, UNFCCC, COP, Kyoto protocol.
ENS 545 Environmental Hazards and Disaster Management (3 cr.): Concept and classification of hazards and disaster; hazard, risk and disaster relationship; nature, assessment, magnitude and analysis of risk; exposure, human vulnerability, variations in vulnerability and impact of various natural hazards; geoenvironmental problems identification and risk management, frame work for risk based site management; dimension of disaster; major hazards and agricultural disasters in Bangladesh: river erosion, flood, drought, salinity, cyclone, their causes and possible management; earthquake: seismological aspect, magnitude, intensity and frequency and earthquake hazard reduction; landslide: causes and management; coastal hazard and disaster management: types and levels of costal hazard, adjustment of hazard, warning and forecasting system; disaster and hazard reduction: preparedness, scope of mitigation, mitigation methods, relief and rehabilitation, risk reduction model and institution; information technology and disaster management; early warning information, GIS based disaster technology.
ENS 556 Energy Resource and Environment (3 cr.): Energy concepts and issues, human―environment energy balance; energy resource and their exploitation: sun as source of energy―nature of its radiation, conventional energy sources: coal, oil, biomass and nature gas, non-conventional energy sources: hydroelectric power, tidal, wind, geothermal energy, solar collectors, solar ponds, nuclear-fission and fusion; Energy use in developing and modern societies: patterns of energy consumption and environmental impact, energy in transportation sector, energy in residential and commercial sector heat engines and power plants; nuclear energy and related issues: radioactive waste, challenges and opportunities; energy and sustainability.
ENS 565 Environmental Chemistry (3 cr.): Concept and scope; environmental sphere: atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, geosphere and anthrosphere; matters and cycles: exogenic and endogenic cycles, sources of materials, biogeochemical cycles, metals: class, source, uses, toxicity index and impacts of heavy metals; nuclear energy: radionuclides, world nuclear power scenario, nuclear fission and fusion reaction, foot print, debate of nuclear power plant in the world and sustainable energy; atmospheric chemistry: energy transfer, atmospheric gases, particles and their formation, photochemical smog, ozone formation, chemistry in ozone hole, and acid rains; geochemistry: formation of geosphere, clay minerals and their impacts on the environment; Chemistry in biosphere: microbial activities, corrosive substances, bioaccumulation of hazardous chemicals, carbon sequestration and mitigation process. Chemistry in hydrosphere: hydrological cycle, trace elements, inorganic chemicals, organic chemicals, oil spill in water bodies, algal nutrients and eutrophication, BOD, COD, DO, and TDS, pesticides in water, water disinfection and purification process; methods of environmental chemical analysis.
ENS 575 Organic Farming and Food Safety (3 cr.) Safe food: Concept, status, food contamination and adulteration, assessment of food safety, food certification, public health; organic agriculture: concept, history, prospects, principles; considerations of production of organic crops, livestock and fisheries; organic farm development; methods: diversity, pest management; economics: marketing, distribution and profitability; organic movement, standards and certification; environment, biodiversity conservation and food security.
ENS 581 Wastewater and Wetland Environment (3 cr.): Wastewater: problems, prospects, properties, types, sources, status and impacts; treatment plant: structure, design, diagram of lab and commercial type bioreactor, DWTP and ETP; treatment: physical treatment – screening, sedimentation, aeration, floatation, filtration, coagulation and flocculation, membrane process; chemical treatment – chemical precipitation, digestion, disinfection, ion-exchange, carbon absorption, biological treatment – aerobic and anaerobic digestion, bioseparation, bioremediation, trickling filters; disposal: significance, scope, methods and recycling; Wetland: concept, problems, prospects, present status of wetlands in Bangladesh, characteristics of water and soil, biodiversities and its nature of existence, population densities and growth pattern, existing agricultural practices in different seasons, possible threats and management techniques.
ENS 590 Environmental Impact Assessments and Regulations (3 cr.): Concept, scope and goal of environmental impact assessment (EIA), origin and development of EIA in USA and Bangladesh, role of USEPA in developing the EIA in developing countries, EIA costing, EIA in project planning and implementation; EIA methodology: information collection, identification, prediction, impact assessment, mitigative measures, environmental management plan (EMP) and environmental monitoring, utilization; Environmental regulation and auditing-hazardous waste legislation, protocols, nature of environmental auditing, audit planning, basic component of auditing; Case study of EIA of some developing countries; Role of GIS in EIA baseline study; Risk assessment and risk management: definition, legal frame work, risk evaluation, characterization, risk analysis, industrial issues and health risk etc.
ENS 596 Reading and Conference (Credit to be arranged but not more than 3 cr.): Specail study assigned by the Major Professor on the recommendation of the advisory committee and/or interest of the student.
ENS 597 Special Problems (Credit to be arranged but not more than 3 cr.): Investigation of special problems in the discipline of Environmental Science but not related to the thesis problem as assigned by the Major Professor. The investigation may consist of original research and/or literature survey.
ENS 598 Seminar (1 cr.): Discussion on assigned topics in the field of Environmental Science.
ENS 599 Thesis Research (Credit to be arranged but not less than 12 cr.): Original thesis research.
ENS 610 Environmental Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (3 cr.): Environmental pollutants; metal toxicity effects on cells, mechanisms of metal resistance and detoxification; microbial metal transformation, biofilm: formation, quantification, regulation, molecular basis, application in remediation of wastewater; bioremediation: strategies, application in remediation of heavy metals, radionucleides, biodegradation of aliphatics, alicyclics, aromatic, heterocyclic compounds and pesticides, biotechnology in production of bioenergy, bioplastics, biosurfactants, enzyme production, bioleaching of metals and other industrial applications; biosensors in environmental analysis, genetic engineering: fundamentals, antibiotic, heavy metal and herbicide resistance plasmids; environmental genomics, potential risks of GMOs to the environment, recombinant DNA technology in pollution control.
ENS 620 Environmental Toxicology (3 cr.): Metabolism of toxic substances by animals and plants, toxic subbstances released by microbes: Clostridium botulinum toxins, Staphylococcal enterotoxins, mycotoxins, and algal toxins; toxic metals: Be, Hg, Cd, Cu, Mn, Ni, Sn, V, Zn, As, Cr, Fe, Se and their toxic effects; atmospheric toxicants: CO, hydrocarbons, SO2, particulates, NO2, fluorides; assessment of environmental risk: toxicants in the soil, natural waters, distribution of toxicants in the biosphere, monitoring environmental toxicants.
Note: Students having CGPA below 3.00 will not be allowed to enroll ENS 596, ENS 597 until he/she raised the CGPA to 3.00 and above.
Minimum Course and Research Requirement for Ph.D. Degree1
2. Ph.D. Degree
| A. Major Courses | Credit | Minor Courses | Credit | |||
| 1a. Core | 15 | 2a. Core | 6 | |||
| ENS 545 | Environmental Hazards and Disaster Management | 3 | AFE 523 | GIS and Remote Sensing for NRM | 3 | |
| ENS 615 | Energy Resource and Management | 3 | STT 510 | Design of Experiment | 3 | |
| ENS 625 | Advanced Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation | 3 | ||||
| ENS 635 | Applied Environmental Microbiology | 3 | ||||
| ENS 665 | Advanced Environmental Chemistry | 3 | ||||
| 1b. Elective 12 | 2b. Elective 6 | |||||
| ENS 501 | Principles of Environmental Science | 3 | AEC 550 | Resources and Environmental Economics | 3 | |
| ENS 510 | Environmental Pollution and Agriculture | 3 | AFE 521 | Environmental Pollution and Protection | 3 | |
| ENS 515 | Agrometeorology | 3 | SSC 501 | Soil Chemistry | 3 | |
| ENS 521 | Ecology | 3 | ENT 580 | Integrated Pest Management | 3 | |
| ENS 525 | Waste Management | 3 | AFE 618 | Biodiversity Conservation and Management | 3 | |
| ENS 531 | Population and Environment | 3 | GFB 542 | Fish Population and Conservation Management | 3 | |
| ENS 535 | Environmental Microbiology | 3 | AGR 530 | Microclimate | 3 | |
| ENS 541 | Global Warming and Climate Change | 3 | SSC 542 | Environment and Soil Pollution | 3 | |
| ENS 556 | Energy Resource and Environment | 3 | SSC 556 | Soil and Water Conservation | 3 | |
| ENS 565 | Environmental Chemistry | 3 | AGR 601 | Crop Ecology | 3 | |
| ENS 575 |
Organic Farming and Food Safety |
3 |
CBT 610 | Stress Physiology | 3 | |
| ENS 581 |
Wastewater and Wetland Environment |
3 | FMG 560 | Integrated Coastal Zone Management | 3 | |
| ENS 590 | Environmental Impact Assessment and Regulations | 3 | GOR 640 | Wildlife Reproduction and Conservation Biology | 3 | |
| ENS 601 | Global Environmental Issues and Policies | 3 | ||||
| ENS 640 | Green Technologies for Clean Environment | 3 | Other Courses2 | |||
| ENS 610 | Environmental Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering | 3 | ||||
| ENS 620 | Environmental Toxicology | 3 | ||||
| B. Seminar | 2 | |||||
| ENS 698 | Seminar | 2 | ||||
C. Dissertation Research |
36 |
|||||
| ENS 699 Dissertation Research variable | ||||||
| Total | 77 | |||||
1Degree requirements may be changed on the recommendation of the Board of Studies and the Advisory Committee
2Approved by the Advisory Committee
COURSES
ENS 501 Principles of Environmental Science (3 cr): Overview of environment, atmosphere: composition, the ecological significance of vertical layers of the atmosphere; ecosystem: natural vs. agro-ecosystem, ecosystem services, nutrient cycling; biodiversity: levels, hotspots, bio-wealth, ecologically critical areas of Bangladesh, agro-biodiversity and food security, IUCN Red list categories and criteria, conservation; major environmental issues: pollution, land degradation, greenhouse gases, global warming, climate change, resource-and ozone depletion; environmental management: greenhouse gas mitigation in agriculture, carbon sequestration, waste management, organic farming, environmental quality management standard: ISO 14000 series; introduction to environmental friendly bio-products, environmental laws, environmental ethics.
ENS 510 Environmental Pollution and Agriculture (3 cr.): Pollution: concept, types, process, and causes; pollutants: outline, characteristics, nature, classes, history, and sources of air-water and soil pollutants (NOx, SOx, ozone, CFCs, VOCs, POPs, smog, PM, sewage sludge, industrial effluents, and heavy metals); resource pollution: air, water, and soil pollution, present status, characteristics, impacts on crops, fisheries, animals and human health in Bangladesh; prevention and mitigation: significance, scope, techniques, policy, and regulation.
ENS 515 Agrometeorology (3 cr.): Climate and the atmosphere: scope of climatology, nature, and division of atmosphere; heat and temperature: solar radiation, radiation budget, variability, and distribution; metrology and micrometeorology: concept, scope, importance, application; water resources: rainfall, precipitation, water budget, water conservation, water cycle; climate, vegetation, and soils: climatic variation with latitude, longitude and altitude distribution of vegetation; climate and agriculture: climatic factors in relation to flora and fauna.
ENS 521 Ecology (3 cr.): Concept, importance, scope, history, branches, different spheres, components, and factors; ecosystem: composition, classification, structure, function, services, cut-off, drivers, food web/chains, energy flow, biogeochemical and resources cycles of the ecosystem, natural and artificial ecosystems; natural selection: fitness and adaptation, species interactions, competitions; population ecology: demography, population growth, exponential and logistic growth model, population dynamics; community ecology: structural attributes, qualitative and quantitative characters, vegetation analysis and classification; succession; biomes: terrestrial and aquatic biomes, characteristics, distribution, and related environmental factors.
ENS 525 Waste Management (3 cr.): Waste: concept, significance, risks and problems, types: liquid (wastewaters, sewage sludge, effluents, and leachate), solid (MSW, kitchen waste, agro-wastes, and plastics), domestic, industrial, medical, putrescible/non-putrescible, hazardous waste (nature, classes, rules of transportation and disposal, TRIC, placards), e-waste and radionuclide, composition, characteristics, sources, scenario in global and Bangladesh aspects and impacts; management: outline, importance, principle, policy and regulation, scope, methods/treatments (segregation, collection, transportation, pyrolysis, gasification, liquefaction, supercritical water oxidation, digestion, biodegradation, composting, hierarchy, proximate analysis, 5Rs); disposals: scope, significance, dumping, incineration, landfill, sea disposal, lagooning, impacts.
ENS 531 Population and Environment (3 cr.): Population dynamics: factors affecting population change, birth and death rates, migration, demography transition model for developed and developing nations, Bangladesh models; population and environmental sources: impacts on agriculture, water, forest losses, atmosphere and climate, energy and species extinction, population and biogeochemical cycles, population and deforestation; population and social environment, population policy and planning: Policy implications of population growth and density, migration, urbanization, agricultural innovations, and technology transfer; family planning.
ENS 535 Environmental Microbiology (3 cr.): Overview of basic microbiological concepts; modern classification of microbes; fungi: structure, diversity, and ecological considerations; bacteria: cell envelope, appendages, and their environmental significance, glycocalyx producing bacteria; archaea: classification, role in methane emission and nitrification; microbial analysis: sampling, processing, detection, enumeration, and identification; microbial gums, polysaccharide, and metabolites in the formation of soil architecture, soil aggregation, and soil erosion control; airborne microbes: airborne toxins, bioaerosols; microbes in aquatic environments: biofilms, pellicles, and microbial mats, and their application in pollution control; microbes in extreme environments, microbial functions: biogeochemical transformation, spoilage of food, biodegradation of organic and metal pollutants, probiotics, biopesticides, bioenergy, and bioterrorism.
ENS 541 Global Warming and Climate Change (3 cr.): Global warming: Concept, history, signs, and causes; fundamental processes: solar variability, orbital mechanics, atmospheric and oceanic circulation; greenhouse gases: past and present concentrations, global warming potential, atmospheric lifetime and radiative forcing; measurement of gas fluxes, capture and storage of carbon dioxide, ozone hole in relation to global warming; gas cycles; modeling effect of global temperature and sea level rise; consequences, impacts, and adjustment to potential global warming; climate: components, climate types, climatic zones, characteristics, Köppen Climate Classification (KCC); climate change: causes and roles of El Niño and La Niña, drivers, indicators, impacts and consequences, conventions and protocols: CC, IPCC, UNFCCC, COP, Kyoto protocol.
ENS 545 Environmental Hazards and Disaster Management (3 cr.): Concept and classification of natural disaster; Hazards, vulnerability, capacity, and risk; Typical difference between natural disasters and hazards, the intensity of natural disasters, Identification of geo-environmental problems towards natural disasters; Major natural disasters and hazards: river bank erosion, flood, drought, salinity, tropical storms, earthquake, landslides, volcano and wildfire, causes, impacts, and possible mitigation methods/technologies; Climate change and natural disasters, coping strategies of natural disasters pre-disaster and post-disaster period, Global scenario of natural disasters, GIS-based natural disaster management technologies.
ENS 556 Energy Resource and Environment (3 cr.): Energy concepts and issues, human―environment energy balance; energy resource and their exploitation: sun as the source of energy―nature of its radiation, conventional energy sources: coal, oil, biomass and natural gas, non-conventional energy sources: hydroelectric power, tidal, wind, geothermal energy, solar collectors, solar ponds, nuclear-fission, and fusion; Energy use in developing and modern societies: patterns of energy consumption and environmental impact, energy in the transportation sector, energy in residential and commercial sector heat engines and power plants; nuclear energy and related issues: radioactive waste, challenges, and opportunities; energy and sustainability.
ENS 565 Environmental Chemistry (3 cr.): Concept and scope; environmental sphere: atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, geosphere, and anthrosphere; matters and cycles: exogenic and endogenic cycles, sources of materials, biogeochemical cycles, metals: class, source, use, toxicity index and impacts of heavy metals; nuclear energy: radionuclides, world nuclear power scenario, nuclear fission and fusion reaction, footprint, the debate of nuclear power plant in the world and sustainable energy; atmospheric chemistry: energy transfer, atmospheric gases, particles and their formation, photochemical smog, ozone formation, chemistry in the ozone hole, and acid rains; geochemistry: formation of the geosphere, clay minerals and their impacts on the environment; Chemistry in the biosphere: microbial activities, corrosive substances, bioaccumulation of hazardous chemicals, carbon sequestration and mitigation process. Chemistry in hydrosphere: hydrological cycle, trace elements, inorganic chemicals, organic chemicals, the oil spill in water bodies, algal nutrients and eutrophication, BOD, COD, DO, and TDS, pesticides in water, water disinfection and purification process; methods of environmental chemical analysis.
ENS 575 Organic Farming and Food Safety (3 cr.) Safe food: Concept, status, food contamination and adulteration, assessment of food safety, food certification, public health; Organic Farming: concept, history, prospects, principles; considerations of production of organic crops, livestock and fisheries; organic farm development; methods: diversity, pest management; economics: marketing, distribution and profitability; organic movement, standards, and certification; environment, and biodiversity conservation.
ENS 581 Wastewater and Wetland Environment (3 cr.): Wastewater: problems, prospects, properties, types, sources, status, and impacts; treatment plant: structure, design, diagram of the lab and commercial type bioreactor, DWTP and ETP; treatment: physical treatment – screening, sedimentation, aeration, floatation, filtration, coagulation and flocculation, membrane process; chemical treatment – chemical precipitation, digestion, disinfection, ion-exchange, carbon absorption, biological treatment – aerobic and anaerobic digestion, bioseparation, bioremediation, trickling filters; disposal: significance, scope, methods, and recycling; Wetland: concept, problems, prospects, present status of wetlands in Bangladesh, characteristics of water and soil, biodiversity and its nature of existence, population densities and growth pattern, existing agricultural practices in different seasons, possible threats and management techniques.
ENS 590 Environmental Impact Assessments and Regulations (3 cr.): Concept, scope, and goal of environmental impact assessment (EIA), origin and development of EIA in USA and Bangladesh, the role of USEPA in developing the EIA in developing countries, EIA costing, EIA in project planning and implementation; EIA methodology: information collection, identification, prediction, impact assessment, mitigative measures, environmental management plan (EMP) and environmental monitoring, utilization; Environmental regulation and auditing-hazardous waste legislation, protocols, nature of environmental auditing, audit planning, the basic component of auditing; Case study of EIA of some developing countries; Role of GIS in EIA baseline study; Risk assessment and risk management: definition, legal framework, risk evaluation, characterization, risk analysis, industrial issues, and health risk.
ENS 596 Reading and Conference (Credit to be arranged but not more than 3 cr.): Special study assigned by the Major Professor on the recommendation of the advisory committee and/or interest of the student.
ENS 597 Special Problems (Credit to be arranged but not more than 3 cr.): Investigation of special problems in the discipline of Environmental Science but not related to the thesis problem as assigned by the Major Professor. The investigation may consist of modern societies: patterns of energy consumption and environmental impact, energy in the transportation sector, energy in residential and commercial sector heat engines and power plants; nuclear energy and related issues: radioactive waste, challenges, and opportunities; energy and sustainability.
ENS 598 Seminar (1 cr.): Discussion on assigned topics in the field of Environmental Science.
ENS 599 Thesis Research (Credit to be arranged but not less than 12 cr.): Original thesis research.
ENS 601 Global Environmental Issues and Policies (3 cr.):
Characterization of global environmental issues and overview of global sustainability around the world; Key environmental issues for global sustainability: Population and demographic transition, Food production, urbanization, Oil production, electricity generation, greenhouse gas production, climate change, sea level rise and the renewable transition, Deforestation and biodiversity, desertification, water use, and waste production, war and terrorism; Global sustainability for Ecological health: grass-roots development, gender equity and appropriate technology; Global sustainability for Green politics and economics: civil society, ethics and spirituality; Basic principles for institutional, legal and regulatory framework for environmental policies, strategies, regulations and governance; State of the environment and policy retrospective of 1972–2008: Our common future, Earth Summit, Kyoto protocol, and Johannesburg Earth Summit; Innovation and networking for environmental policy for sustainable environmental management since Rio (Earth Summit): Guidelines for environmental policies of World Bank, UNEP, WHO, OECD, and other international and UN organizations; Market-based environmental policies and actions for achieving the Millennium Development goals and related outcomes; Analysis of environmental policies between developed and developing countries.
ENS 610 Environmental Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (3 cr.): Environmental pollutants; metal toxicity effects on cells, mechanisms of metal resistance and detoxification; microbial metal transformation, biofilm: formation, quantification, regulation, molecular basis, application in remediation of wastewater; bioremediation: strategies, application in remediation of heavy metals, radionuclides, biodegradation of aliphatics, alicyclics, aromatic, heterocyclic compounds and pesticides, biotechnology in the production of bioenergy, bioplastics, biosurfactants, enzyme production, bioleaching of metals and other industrial applications; biosensors in environmental analysis, genetic engineering: fundamentals, antibiotic, heavy metal, and herbicide resistance plasmids; environmental genomics, potential risks of GMOs to the environment, recombinant DNA technology in pollution control.
ENS 615 Energy Resource and Management (3 cr.): Concept of energy resources, sources of energy, types of energy, renewable energy resources: wind, solar, hydro, tidal, geothermal, and biomass energy; non-renewable energy resources: fossil fuels, crude oil, coal, uranium, natural gas, tar sand, steel, and phosphate; factors affecting on the availability of renewable and non-renewable energy resources; pros and cons of renewable and non-renewable energy resources; energy management in developing and modern societies: patterns of energy consumption and environmental impact, energy in the transportation sector, energy in the residential and commercial sector, heat engines and power plants; nuclear energy and related issues: radioactive waste, challenges, and opportunities; energy and sustainability.
ENS 620 Environmental Toxicology (3 cr.): Metabolism of toxic substances by animals and plants, toxic substances released by microbes: Clostridium botulinum toxins, Staphylococcal enterotoxins, mycotoxins, and algal toxins; toxic metals: Be, Hg, Cd, Cu, Mn, Ni, Sn, V, Zn, As, Cr, Fe, Se, and their toxic effects; atmospheric toxicants: CO, hydrocarbons, SO2, particulates, NO2, fluorides; assessment of environmental risk: toxicants in the soil, natural waters, distribution of toxicants in the biosphere, monitoring environmental toxicants.
ENS 625 Advanced Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation (3 cr.):
Impacts of climate change on the natural and human environment: Freshwater resources and their management, ecosystems, their properties, goods and services, food, fiber, and forest products, coastal systems and low-lying areas, industry, settlement and society, and human health; Future impacts of climate change in Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Latin America, North America, Polar Regions (Arctic and Antarctic), and small islands; Impact on Human Health: Quantitative health impact assessment, vector-borne diseases, waterborne and foodborne diarrheal diseases, food security, vulnerable populations; Assessment of adaptation practices, options, constraints, and capacity; Inter-relationships between adaptation and mitigation; Assessing key vulnerabilities and the risk from climate change; Perspectives on climate change and sustainability; Issues related to mitigation in the long-term context: Energy supply, Transport and its infrastructure, Residential and commercial buildings, Industry, Agriculture, Forestry, and Waste management; Mitigation from a cross-sectoral perspective; Sustainable Development and mitigation. Policies, instruments, and cooperative agreements.
ENS 635 Applied Environmental Microbiology (3 cr.):
Microbes in the environment, molecular-based characterization, identification and assessment, microbes and ecosystem services; microbes as environmental monitoring and assessment tool, microbes in resource management, biodegradation and bioremediation of heavy metals, metalloids, synthetic dyes, pesticides, hydrocarbons, antibiotics, hormones, microplastics, and nanoplastics; microbial whole cells, biofilms, enzymes, secondary metabolites, microbial fuel cell, bioreactor, microbial-based nanoformulations and engineered microbes in decolorization, degradation, and detoxification of wastes; microbes in carbon sequestration, biofertilizers, biopesticides and alleviator of drought, salinity, heat, and heavy metal stress.
ENS 640 Green Technologies for Clean Environment (3 cr.):
Green technology: Global perspectives, selectivity of green technology, solvent free microwave assisted technique, microwave activation, non-purely thermal techniques, hyphenated techniques, use of hyphenated tools, species derivatization, opportunity and challenges; Non-traditional green alternatives: Oxidative technology mechanism, mechanism of oxidation of pollutants, cavitation, application of cavitation to wastewater treatment, the use of fenton chemicals, sonophotocatalytic oxidation, hybrid and photo-fenton process; Cleaner technology: the transition to cleaner technology, factors promoting cleaner technology, regulatory frameworks, need for state intervention, impacts of regulation on innovation and competitiveness, policy instruments, cleaner technology versus competitiveness, cost minimization, public information, cleaner technology promotion, radical changes in process technology; Preventing Industrial Waste and Pollution through Cleaner Production: Cleaner industrial production without use of toxic chemicals, Cleaner agricultural production, Cleaner renewable energy sources, Clean coal technology, Change in production processes for cleaner production, Material substitution for cleaner production, Equipment modification for cleaner production; Environmental accounting: Audit types, audit criteria and audit tools, steps for performing audit, environmental audit confidentiality, cost-effective approach to environmental auditing; Corporate environmental performances: Regulation, sectoral and regional differences, economic factors, relative value and resource efficiency, interaction of economic and regulatory factors, decision making in the firm.
ENS 665 Advanced Environmental Chemistry (3 cr.):
Chemistry topics- atomic, molecular, ionic, and radical structures, stoichiometry, thermochemistry, gas laws, acid/base, equilibrium and oxidation/reduction, Atmospheric chemistry, Water chemistry, Pollution and toxic organic compounds, Energy and climate change. Bio-geochemical cycles, Chemical pollutants, Chemical hazards, Heavy metals in ground and surface waters, Anthropogenic sources of chemical pollutants, Green chemistry and cleaner production, Green chemical products, Environmental catalysis, Renewable energy, and energy utilization, Soil environmental chemistry, Natural radioactivity, Radioactive waste composition, storage, and disposal.
ENS 696 Reading and Conference (Credit to be arranged but not more than 3 cr.): Special study assigned by the Major Professor on the recommendation of the advisory committee and/or interest of the student.
ENS 697 Special Problems (Credit to be arranged but not more than 3 cr.): Investigation of special problems in the discipline of Environmental Science but not related to the thesis problem as assigned by the Major Professor.
ENS 698 Seminar (2 cr. not more than 1cr. per term): Discussion on assigned topics in the field of Environmental Science.
ENS 699 Dissertation Research (Credit to be arranged but not less than 30 cr.): Original dissertation research.
Note: Students having CGPA below 3.00 will not be allowed to enroll in ENS 596, ENS 597, ENS 696, or ENS 697 until he/she raised their CGPA to 3.00 and above.