Abhijit Mukherjee (earth scientist)

Abhijit Mukherjee
Abhijit Mukherjee
Born	1975 (age 49–50)
Nationality	India
Occupation	Professor
Awards	Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology

Abhijit Mukherjee (born 1975) is an Indian professor, scientist and currently Professor of Geology and Geophysics and the School of Environmental Science and Engineering of IIT Kharagpur. ^[1] He was awarded Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in 2020 in the field of Earth Atmosphere Ocean and Planetary Sciences. ^{[2] [3]}

Early life

Mukherjee hails from Kolkata. He studied in South Point High School and Calcutta University. He went to the United States for higher studies and post-doctoral research. Mukherjee worked in Canada for several years and after returning to India joined in IIT-Kharagpur. ^[4] He works there as an associate professor at the Department of Geology and Geophysics and the School of Environmental Science and Engineering. ^{[5] [6]}

Mukherjee completed a B.Sc.(Hons) in Geology from the Asutosh College, and his master's in University of Calcutta in 1999. He holds another master's degree from University of Kentucky in 2003. Later he completed his Ph.D there. ^[7]

Career

Mukherjee is currently the professor of Indian Institute of Technology from December 2022. He was elected to the Geological Society of America International Committee. ^[8]

Mukherjee doing fieldwork on groundwater availability in deserts

He served as a physical hydrogeologist at Alberta Geological Survey, Energy Resources Conservation Board of Government of Alberta. He was a postdoctoral Fellow at the Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geoscience in 2006–2008 under the supervision of Prof. Bridget Scanlon. Mukherjee also holds a Professional Diploma in Software Engineering, from National Institute of Information Technology, in 2001. ^[9]

Research

Mukherjee's works have been acknowledged nationally and internationally. He researched the subject of groundwater exploration for suitable and sustainable drinking water sources including arsenic and other contaminants. His research group developed an AI prediction model for detecting groundwater arsenic in the Ganges Delta. ^{[10] [11]}

Mukherjee receiving the National Geoscience Award in 2016

Mukherjee is regarded as one of the most well known hydrogeologists in South Asia. He has done field-based and numerical research on the quality and quantity of groundwater-sourced drinking water across India. He has significantly contributed to the recent advancement of groundwater research in India. Mukherjee's recent research work has significantly contributed to support and evaluate the Government of India's missions like MNREGA on groundwater rejuvenation in India. ^[12] His research work on geological and human influences on groundwater pollution (arsenic, pesticide, sanitation-sourced pollution) in the Indus-Ganga-Brahmaputra river basins has attracted wide national and international attention. ^{[13] [14]}

Awards and recognitions

• Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize ^[13]
• Kharaka Award ^[15]
• Faculty Excellence Award
• Asian Scientist 100
• Newton-Bhabha Research Grant Award
• National Geoscience Award ^[15]
• Young Scientist Award ^[16]
• Graduate Research Award

Books

• Mukherjee, A., Scanlon, B. R., Aureli, A., Langan, S., Guo, H., & McKenzie, A. A. (Eds.). (2020). Global groundwater: source, scarcity, sustainability, security, and solutions. Elsevier. ^[17]
• Mukherjee, Abhijit, ed. Riverine Systems : Understanding the Hydrological, Hydrosocial and Hydro-Heritage Dynamics. Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2022. Print. ^{[18] [19]}
• Mukherjee, A. (ed.), 2018. Groundwater of South Asia.Springer, ISBN   978-981-10-3888-4, 799 pgs.
• Ramanathan, A., Johnston, S., Mukherjee, A., Nath, B. (eds.), 2015. Safe and sustainability use of arsenic-contaminated aquifers in the Gangetic plain. Springer, ISBN   978-3-319-16123-5.

References

1. "The KGP Chronicle" . Retrieved 27 September 2020.
2. "14 scientists from prominent research & academic institutions to receive Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award". The Indian Express. 26 September 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
3. "CSIR Announces Awardees of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for 2020". The Wire Science. 27 September 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
4. "Bengal scores high with Bhatnagar Prize". The Times of India. 27 September 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
5. "Moment of Pride – The KGP Chronicle". 26 September 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
6. "Abhijit Mukherjee - Google Scholar". scholar.google.co.in. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
7. "Abhijit Mukherjee" (PDF). Retrieved 14 June 2024.
8. "Honour for IIT-Kgp earth scientist". The Times of India. 29 January 2022. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 14 June 2024.
9. Mondal, Poulami (13 May 2021). "IIT Kharagpur Professor Abhijit Mukherjee has been inducted as a Fellow of the Geological Society of America". The KGP Chronicle. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
10. "Dr Abhijit Mukherjee, Associate Professor, Deptt. of Geology & Geophysics, IIT Kharagpur Selected for 'Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar' Prize". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
11. "Abhijit Mukherjee". Asian Scientist Magazine. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
12. "India's falling groundwater storage being replenished: Study". The Indian Express. 12 August 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
13. "Dr Abhijit Mukherjee, Associate Professor, Deptt. of Geology & Geophysics, IIT Kharagpur Selected for 'Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar' Prize". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
14. "'Groundwater depleting fast in Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra basins'". www.downtoearth.org.in. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
15. "Abhijit Mukherjee". www.apn-gcr.org. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
16. "Abhijit Mukherjee, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur" . Retrieved 14 June 2024.
17. Mukherjee, Abhijit; Scanlon, Bridget R.; Aureli, Alice; Langan, Simon; Guo, Huaming; McKenzie, Andrew A., eds. (2021). Global groundwater: source, scarcity, sustainability, security, and solutions. Amsterdam Oxford Cambridge: Elsevier. ISBN   978-0-12-818172-0.
18. Mukherjee, Abhijit (2022). Riverine systems: understanding the hydrological, hydrosocial and hydro-heritage dynamics (1st ed.). Cham: Springer. ISBN   978-3-030-87067-6.
19. Mukherjee, Abhijit, ed. (2022). Riverine systems: understanding the hydrological, hydrosocial and hydro-heritage dynamics. Cham: Springer. ISBN   978-3-030-87066-9.