M.Sc. ‑ Environmental Science

Definition and concept of environment; Types and components of environment (Lithosphere, Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, Biosphere); Scope and multidisciplinary nature of the subject; Public awareness – Earth Summits, recent Conventions on climate change

Goals of environmental education; Environmental education at primary, secondary and tertiary level; Green politics; Environmental movements – The Chipko movement, Silent Valley movement, Narmada Bachaao Andolan, Tehri Dam Conflict

Symbiotic relationship between tribals and forest, forest and development; Community participation in forest management, case study of Chipko movement, sacred groves forests, India’s Bishnoi community and their conservation practices; economic welfare and development; Man and biosphere programmes; Concept of conservation reserves and community reserves, importance of wildlife corridor.

Man-Environment Relationship: History and relationship; Need for public awareness; Deep ecology; Equitable use of natural resources; Ecosystem services to society; Environmentalism, Environmental refugees; Ecofeminism; Environmental movements in India; International and national environmental organizations; Human population growth and problems, regulation of population, Green politics.

Definition and concept on environmental management; Environmental quality measurement (ISO:14000), Environmental management system; Implication of Agenda-21; Functions of management–forecasting, planning, organizing, motivating, coordinating, controlling, and communicating, leadership, directing, and decision making.

Management of air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution in respect to Indian scenario; Concept, types, importance of Desalination Process; Waste Water Treatment; Strategies for sustainable Water Management; Drinking Water Standard; Ganga Action Plan (GAP), Yamuna Action Plan (YAP)

Environmental accounting–objectives, financial accounting, social accounting; Basic steps and process of environmental audit; Life cycle assessment

Need of environmental management; Wildlife conservation: moral obligation; Philosophy of wildlife management; Human wildlife conflicts; Role of government, wildlife biologists and social scientists

Vulnerability of natural hazards in India; Disaster management cycle; Activities associated with various stages of cycles

Basic ideas and definition; Goals of impact assessment, evolution of impact assessment, technology assessment; Environmental inventory; Techniques and methods of EIA

Types of industrial waste: Hazardous and non-hazardous; Effect of industrial waste on air, water and soil; Industrial waste management and its importance

Molecular weight, equivalent weight, molarity, normality, valency, oxidation state and bonding, oxidation and reduction reactions; Metals and non-metals; Aromatic and aliphatic organic compounds; Saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons; Free radical

Stoichiometry, chemical equilibrium, chemical potential; Acid-base reactions (acidity, alkalinity, buffers and buffer capacity)

Principles of sedimentation, coagulation, precipitation; Concept of solubility product; Filtration and adsorption processes

Free energy; Bioenergetics of coupled reactions; High energy phosphates-central role in energy capture and transfer; Energy yield, coupling factor theory, membrane transport, active transport, ATP driven active transport, ion driven active transport; Osmosis, osmotic pressure, plant cell as osmotic system and relationship with turgor pressure, wall pressure and osmotic pressure; Water potential concept, types; Osmotic relation in three physical states (ψ, ψs, ψp); Water potential changes in plasmolysis and deplasmolysis, imbibitions

Lambert-Beer’s law; Principle, instrumentation, application, limitations of Spectrophotometer, Flame photometry, Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer; Separation technique: Principle, types, techniques, and application of Chromatography; Solvent extraction process

Radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, units of radioactivity, half life, average life, decay constant, nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, application of radioisotopes

Subdivisions of ecology; Ecological classification (hydrophytes, xerophytes, halophytes, etc.) and their morphological, physiological and biochemical adaptation; Ecological factors – climatic, edaphic, physiographic and biotic; Limiting factor and Shelford’s Law, Liebig law; Concept of Biological clock, circadian rhythm, human ecology

Structural and functional aspects of major ecosystems (with special reference to freshwater, mangrove and desert); Trophic levels, Ecological pyramids, food chain and food webs; Energy flow in ecosystem – Energy flow models Biomes: Concept, types and characteristics of biome types

Characteristics of population and community; Basic ideas on ecotone and edge effect, habitat and ecological niche, ecotypes, ecophene, ecological indicators; ecological succession; biogeochemical cycles, e. g., N, C, S, P

Biodiversity – Concept, value; Mega-diversity Hotspots, hotspots of biodiversity, Red Data Book; Conservation of biodiversity (International & National); Threats of biodiversity

Concept on Environmental biotechnology, Fermentation techniques, composting, vermicomposting, bioleaching; Application of biotechnology in environmental field

Origin and evolution of earth; Big Bang theory, Geological time scale; Major rock types; Continental drift theory, Plate tectonic theory

Elements of climates; Spatial and temporal patterns of climate; Climate parameters in India and climatic classification (Koppen’s classification)

Mineral resources–classification, Indian occurrences; Water resources (surface and groundwater), hydrological cycles, geological formation as aquifers, type and characteristics of aquifers; Groundwater plume; Darcy’s law; Depletion of groundwater; Artificial recharging of ground water; Influence of land use on water resources

Definition, source of energy, energy interactions with the atmosphere and Earth’s surface materials; Principle of Remote sensing; Remote sensing platforms; Principle and function of sensors; Types of satellites; Latest Indian operating satellites and their utilities; Advantages and limitations of remote sensing; GIS

Material cycling in ecosystems; Hydraulic gradient; Rain water harvesting, Water shed management; Municipal waste water and treatment processes; Point-source Gaussian Plume Model in air pollution; Global initiatives on atmospheric changes; Waste-to-Energy combustion

Sampling, preservation and storage techniques; Principle, application and limitations of titrimetric, gravimetric and potentiometric methods; Ultrasound characteristics and Environmental applications of acoustic RADAR and LASER

Green technology in waste management, Integrated waste management (IWM), Supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) of wastes; Rhizosphere in biodegradation of organic wastes; Green techniques in water treatments: Deionization, Desalinization, Electro dialysis, Reverse osmosis;

Air pollution related concept, various pollution effect, and control methods

Water pollution related concept, various pollution effect, and control methods

Land pollution related concept, various pollution effect, and control methods

Noise pollution related concept, various pollution effect, and control methods

Definition and Concept; mechanism of toxicity; Branches of toxicology; Types of interactions in toxicology; Concept of Dose-Response relationship, LD50, LC50, Threshold Limit Value (TLV), Therapeutic index; Basic concept on Bioaccumulation, Bio magnifications, Bio-concentration factor; Ames test, Bio assay technique

Concept on Environmental biotechnology, Fermentation techniques, composting, vermicomposting, bioleaching; Application of biotechnology in environmental field

Definition, types, applications and advantages of bio fertiliser, bio pesticide, biofuel, and biogas

Basic concept on law, rules, act, treaty; Public Policy and PILs; Environmental provisions in the Indian Constitution- Article 48A, 51A(g); Powers and Functions of Govt. Agencies for pollution control (CPCB & SPCB)

Objectives & Principles of The Environment Protection Act, 1986; The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981; The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974; The Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Act, 2000; The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972; The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980; The National Green Tribunal Act, 2010; The Biological Diversity Act, 2002; Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991 and International Environmental laws

Concept of statistics, population, sampling, sampling area, sampling unit, types of data, types of sampling, advantages of sampling; Graphical representation of statistical data

Mean, Median, Mode; Mean deviation, Standard deviation, Standard error; Correlation and Regression; Estimation of sample size, basic information on probability, testing of hypothesis, Null and alternate hypothesis, Skewness, Kurtosis, t – test, chi – square test

Mathematical models; Steps in modelling approaches; Limitations of model application, fate of chemicals, sophistication levels in modelling

Modeling: Types of models: Mechanistic, economic, simulation etc. Fundamentals of building a model. Treatment of 2 or 3 environmental related models: Eutrophication model, global climate change model, wildlife habitat suitability model, air pollution model, ground water pollution model.

An Introduction to Environmental Ethics and Philosophy: Ethics in society; Environmental Consequences; Responsibility for Environmental Degradation

Theories of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy: Different types of schools of thought vis-à-vis nature and environmental management. Values in modernity, anti-modernity, eastern and western cultures, nature and religion etc

Deep ecology and animal rights theories, environmental rights, environmental racism. Cross-cultural views on Nature: The relationship between humans, nature and adaptation. Theoretical frameworks of cultural and social ecology; debates on culture/nature divide.

Foundations of Environmental Ethics for Business, Corporate Environmental Ethics, Environmental Disclosure, Social and Ethical Issues for Sustainable Development, Business Ethics and Corporate Environmental Performance.

Social survey technique, air quality, water quality, health status survey processes in general.

Overall outline and structure of the article/manuscript. Description, value, and development of points/outlines before writing. Screening of Material for inclusion within the structure of the manuscript. Importance of authors & their sequence, importance of clear title, abstract and summary. Introduction, methods, results and discussions. Writing Style – Active or passive, Punctuation, use of commas, apostrophe, semicolon and colon. Avoiding duplication and repetition. Importance of revisions and references. Plagiarism – paraphrasing and copy write violation. Consequences of plagiarism. Why not to fudge, tinker, fabricate or falsify data. Plagiarism detection tools.

Computer fundamentals, operating system, database management system, hardware and software concept, basics of HTML and internet, Application of computer in understanding environmental processes and management.

Aqua-Chem, MS Excel, Remote sensing software, SPSS, reference managers,