Center of Excellence in Higher Education
The First Private University in Bangladesh

Dr. Biswas Karabi Farhana

Full Time Faculty
Professor &

Director, Graduate Studies


Ph.D., in Atmospheric Science University of East Anglia, UK
Master in Environmental Studies University of Newcastle, Australia
M.Sc., in Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering University of Dhaka
Bachelor of Science (BSc) Dept of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Dhaka

Phone: +880-2-55668200 Ext: 2061
Email: biswas.farhana@northsouth.edu
Office: SAC-701

Dr Biswas Karabi Farhana is a Professor at the Department of Environmental Science and Management. Currently, she is the Director of the Graduate Studies at the North South University. Before she joined NSU in 2010, she had been as Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington in USA. She also served at several other leading academic and research organizations of USA, UK and Bangladesh.

Dr Farhana earned her PhD in Atmospheric Science from the University of East Anglia, UK, Master in Environmental Studies from University of Newcastle, Australia, and MSc and BSc in Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering from University of Dhaka. She was awarded the Commonwealth UK Scholarship, Australian Government’s Scholarship and German Government’s Scholarship for higher studies.

Dr Farhana is fond of teaching atmospheric and climate science, environmental chemistry, ecology, environmental pollution control techniques, chemical engineering and chemical technology. Her research interests encompass air pollution in South Asian mega cities and biogeochemical cycling of elements. She extensively traveled different corners of the globe for atmospheric research, including the Antarctic regions and the remote Atlantic Ocean. Her research findings have been published in high impact journals.

 

 

 

Haque, A. B., D'Costa, N. G., Washim, M., Baroi, A. R., Hossain, N., Hafiz, M., ... & Biswas, K. F. (2021). Fishing and trade of devil rays (Mobula spp.) in the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh: Insights from fishers’ knowledge. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems31(6), 1392-1409.

Sourav, M. S. H., Thompson, P. M., & Biswas, K. F. (2018). Population and behavioural ecology of Alexandrine Parakeet Psittacula eupatria in Dhaka city, Bangladesh. Forktail, (34), 22-28.

Avery G.B., Biswas K.F., Mead R., Southwell M., Willey J.D., Kieber R.J., Mullaugh K.M. (2013) Carbon isotopic characterization of hydrophobic dissolved organic carbon in rainwater, Atmospheric Environment, 68, 230-234

Raja S., Biswas K.F., Husain Liaquat, Hopke P.K. (2010)  Source apportionment of atmospheric aerosols in Lahore, Pakistan, Water Air and Soil Pollution, 208, 43-57

Biswas K.F. and Jickells T.D. (2009) Aerosol inorganic halogen cycling and aerosol acidity in Britain based on campaigns at four sites, Air Quality and Climate Change, 23(1), 28-34

Biswas K.F., Ghauri B.M. and Husain Liaquat (2008) Gaseous and aerosol pollutants during fog and clear episodes in South Asian urban atmosphere, Atmospheric Environment, 42, 7775-7785 

Johnson M.T., Liss P.S., Jickells T.D. Biswas K.F., et al. (2008) Field observations of ocean-atmosphere exchange of ammonia: a comparison of high and low latitudes reveals the fundamental importance of temperature, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 22, GB1019, doi:10.1029/2007GB003039 

Baker A.R., Jickells T. D., Biswas K.F. et al. (2006) Nutrients in atmospheric aerosol particles along the Atlantic Meridional Transect, Deep Sea Research II, 53, 1706-1719

Baker A.R., Kelly S.D., Biswas K.F., Witt M., Jickells T.D. (2003). Atmospheric deposition of nutrients to the Atlantic Ocean, Geophysical Research Letters, 30, 2296 

Jickells T.D., Kelly S.D., Baker A.R., Biswas K.F. et al. (2003). Isotopic evidence for a marine ammonia source, Geophysical Research Letters, 30, 1374 

Biswas K.F., Howard Bridgman and Gordon McOrist (2001). Trace elements associated with atmospheric particulate matter in the Upper Hunter Valley, NSW, Australia, Analytical Sciences, 17, a391

Hadi D.A., Billah K.M., Biswas K.F. and Islam Rafiqul (1999) A study of chemical composition of atmospheric precipitation at Savar, Joydevpur, Tongi and Narayanganj, Bangladesh. Water, Air and Soil Pollution, 111, 377

Biswas K. F. (2005) Study on inorganic halogens and related ions in the lower atmospheric aerosols. PhD thesis. University of East Anglia, UK

Biswas K. F. (1999) Atmospheric Particulate Concentration and Trace Element Chemistry in Particulate Matter in the Upper Hunter Valley, NSW, Australia. MES thesis. University of Newcastle, Australia

Biswas K. F. (1996) A Study of Chemical Composition of Atmospheric Deposition in and around Dhaka City Bangladesh. MSc thesis. University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Australia Awards 2015 to represent Bangladesh in the South and West Asia Regional Alumni Workshop on Women in Leadership Network, 12-13 Oct 2015, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Health Research Inc USA Research Fellowship 2006-2008 for post doctoral research at Wadsworth Centre, NY State Dept of Health

Commonwealth United Kingdom Scholarship 2001-2004 for PhD in Environmental Sciences

Australian Development Scholarship 1998-99 for Master in Environmental Studies

Goethe Institute Germany Scholarship 1990 for Advanced and intensive German language and literature course at Goethe Institute Bremen, Germany

University of Dhaka Scholarship 1990-91 for MSc in Applied Chemistry and Chemical Technology

Bishwa Sahitya Kendra Champion 1988 in Nationwide Intellectual and Comprehensive Reading Contest (Jatiya Ekadosh Srenir Boipora Protijogita)

PhD in Environmental Science, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, UK, 2005

    Thesis: Biogeochemical cycling of inorganic halogen in the lower atmosphere

Master in Environmental Studies), School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of   

     Newcastle, Australia, 1999

    Thesis: Trace element chemistry of atmospheric particulate matter in Upper Hunter Valley, NSW,

    Australia

MSc, Dept of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, 1996

    Thesis: Chemical composition of rainwater in and around Dhaka city

BSc, Dept of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, 1994

4 Feb 2016 to date, Professor, ESM, NSU, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Feb 2015  to date, Graduate Program Coordinator, Dept of Environmental Science and Management (ESM),  

   North South University (NSU), Dhaka, Bangladesh

26 Dec 2011 to date, Associate Professor, ESM, NSU, Dhaka, Bangladesh

21 Sep 2010- 25 Dec 2011, Assistant Professor, ESM, NSU, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Aug 2008 – Dec 2009, Research Assistant Professor, Dept of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Centre for

   Marine Science, University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW), USA.

Feb 2006 – Aug 2008, Research Affiliate, Laboratory of Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry, Wadsworth

   Centre, New York State Department of Health, USA

Feb-Aug 2005, Postgraduate Admissions Assistant, Admission Office, University of East Anglia (UEA), UK

Mar- Sep 2005, Supervisor (BSc Students’ Research Project), School of Environmental Sciences, UEA, UK

As Principle Investigator 

1) Project Title: Air Quality and Covid-19: Examining the pollution-pandemic nexus in Dhaka

Name of PI: Biswas Karabi Farhana, Professor, Department of Environmental Science and Management, North South University 

Name of CI(s): Dr. Saiful Momen, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Science and Management, North South University; Dr. Dipak Kumar Mitra, Professor, Department of Public Health, North South University; Dr. Firoz Khan, Senior Lecturer, University of Malaya, Malaysia     

Grant Name/Grant Authority: North South University

Duration: 2020 to date 

 

2) Project Title: 'German-Bangladesh University Cooperation in Textile and Clothing Sector 2018-19' within the framework of 'German-Bangladesh Higher Education Network for Sustainable Textiles [HEST]' 

Name of PI: Biswas Karabi Farhana, Professor, Dept of Environmental Science and Management, North South University-Bangladesh, Prof Harald Schoenberger (principal applicant), University of Stuttgart-Germany, Prof Michael Rauch, Hof University of Applied Sciences-Germany, Prof Ummul Khayer Fatema, Bangladesh University of Textiles, Prof Sudip Kumar Pal, Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology-Bangladesh, and Prof Moniruzzaman Mollah, Asian University of Women. 

Source of Grant Fund: German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) [co-managed by German Academic Exchange (DAAD), UGC-Bangladesh and GIZ-Bangladesh]

Duration: 2018 to date 

 

 

As Co-Investigator 

1) Project Name/Title: Discerning the environmental impacts of cement and glass industry in Bangladesh using life cycle assessment 

Name of PI: Mohammad Sujauddin, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Science and Management, North South University 

Name of CI(s): Dr. Mohammad Mosharraf Hossain, Professor, University of Chittagong; Dr. Biswas Karabi Farhana, Professor, Department of Environmental Science and Management, North South University; Dr. Rubel Biswas Chowdhury, Deakin University, Austrlia    

Grant Name/Grant Authority: North South University

Duration: 2020-2021

 

2) Project Name/Title: Determining the environmental footprint of knitwear  and wovenwear products in Bangladesh through the lens of life cycle assessment 

Name of PI: Mohammad Sujauddin, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Science and Management, North South University 

Name of CI(s): Dr. Mohammad Mosharraf Hossain, Professor, University of Chittagong; Dr. Biswas Karabi Farhana, Professor, Department of Environmental Science and Management, North South University; Dr. Rubel Biswas Chowdhury, Deakin University, Austrlia    

Grant Name/Grant Authority: North South University

Duration: 2020-2021

 

3) Project Name/Title: Material Flow Analysis of Plastic in Bangladesh to Unearth the State of its Circularity

Name of PI: Mohammad Sujauddin, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Science and Management, North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Name of CI(s): Prof. Biswas Karabi Farhana, Department of Environmental Science and Management, North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh; Prof. Mohammad Mosharraf Hossain, University of Chittagong; Dr. Rubel Biswas Chowdhury, School of Engineering, Deakin University, Victoria, Australia

Grant Name/Grant Authority: North South University

Duration: November 2019~November 2020

At Dept of Environmental Science and Management, NSU, Bangladesh (Sep 2010-present):

Undergraduate courses

Climate Change
General Chemistry
Ecology
Environmental Chemistry
Environmental Pollution Control
Introduction to Environmental Science

Master's courses

Ecological Systems and Biodiversity
Ecological Principles
Fundamentals of  Environmental Science and Management
Research Methodology

At Dept of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of North Carolina Wilmington (2008-2009):

Environmental Chemistry

 

Nominated as Australia Award Ambassador (Feb 2016)

Principal contact of Bangladesh chapter for the Himalayan University Consortium (HUC) and a multi-country atmospheric research campaign organized by International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)

Member of the Convening Committee, Bangladesh Association of Commonwealth Scholars and Fellows, March 2014 to date

Member of the Ad hoc Committee, Australian Awards Alumni Association of Bangladesh

Vice-President, Ujan (a socio-cultural organization), December 2011 to date

Editor, Bishorgo (a bilingual quarterly in English and Bengali) published by Organisation of Bangladeshi American Community (OBAC), Albany, NY, USA (2008-2010)

Associate Coordinator, ‘Society of Conscious Readers and Critiques’ (Pathok Porishad), ‘Scientific Philosophy Study Club’ (Darshan Chakro) at Biswa Shahitya Kendro and Sanskriti Bikash Kendro, Dhaka (1993-97), and Film Sessions and Retrospectives for the Bangladesh Film Society (1991-1997)

Current interest:

Chemistry of atmospheric pollutants in South Asian mega-cities;
Source, chemistry and impacts of winter fog in the Indo-Gangetic plains;
Biogeochemistry of  atmospheric aerosol and precipitation in marine and terrestrial atmosphere
Atmospheric cycling of halogen, iron and carbon


Future interests
:

Mitigation of air and water Pollution;
Climate change causes, impact, adaptation and mitigation;
Environmental health;
Carbon reduction;