Amritsar-Department of Sciences, Khalsa College for Women, Amritsar organized an International seminar on, ‘Environmental Toxicology- A Major Concern’ on 25th January, 2024. Prof. (Dr.) Satwinderjeet Kaur, Department of Botanical & Environmental Sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), Amritsar said the dwindling state of the environment have been caused by anthropogenic activities in the present era. She stressed on various eco-friendly approaches through which we can combat the climate change. The keynote speaker for the inaugural session was Prof. (Dr.) Pooja Chadha, Department of Zoology, GNDU. Dr. Chadha, specializing in the field of genotoxicity gave a very engaging talk on the theme of the seminar highlighting the case studies across the world where the harmful effects of various chemical and biological toxicants has led to a decline in the species abundance. The seminar also included invited speakers from abroad, with the first session chaired by Dr. Sailesh Rao, a Ph.D. student from Stanford University, California and also a founder and executive Director of Climate Healers, a U.S. based non-profit organization, said Principal Dr. Surinder Kaur who welcomed the guests earlier.
Dr. Rao emphasized on the significance of adopting veganism to end animal cruelty and save the planet by reducing carbon emissions. We also had Dr. Richa Agarwala, senior scientist at the National Centre for Biotechnology Information at the National Institute of Health, who led the talk on how she and her group are engaged in resolving the outbreaks of foodborne diseases through rapid identification of pathogens. This was followed by a talk from Dr. Hema Kaur Sidhu, owner and founder of Telesleep Services, Maryland, U.S. Dr. Sidhu talked about the importance of sound sleep quality and the various ways in which it gets hampered owing to the pollutants present in the air including noise and chemical pollution.
The inaugural session was followed by two technical sessions, one for oral and the other for poster presentations which was chaired by Prof. (Dr.) Manpreet Singh Bhatti, Department of Botanical & Environmental Sciences, GNDU and Prof. (Dr.) Arvinder Kaur, Department of Zoology, GNDU, respectively. They were joined by Dr. Kapila Mahajan from DAV College, Jalandhar and Dr. Sukhnandan Kaur from Hindu College, Amritsar as the resource persons for oral and poster sessions, respectively. Both the technical sessions witnessed a huge participation from both teachers and students across various streams presenting their research work and was attended by students and several research scholars working in different departments. This was followed by valedictory session which was presided on by Prof. (Dr.) Avinash Kaur Nagpal, Department of Botanical & Environmental Sciences, GNDU, Prof. (Dr.) Renu Bhardwaj, Director Research, GNDU and Prof. (Dr.) Pratap Kumar Pati, Head, Department of Biotechnology, GNDU. Participants were conferred with the certificates to boost their morale and awards for the best oral and poster presentation were given to students. The seminar convener Dr. Manbir Kaur delivered a vote of thanks to the speakers.