School of Natural Sciences and Engineering

The research report focuses on the Spatio-temporal trends in air quality, vegetation, and water quality before, during, and after the closure of opencast coal mines in India. Besides, Aerosol Optical Depth and Normalised Difference Vegetation Index have also been extracted to study the long-term trends in Particulate Matter concentrations and vegetation cover, respectively. The report concludes with policy recommendations to improve the sustainability of the coal sector.

The NIAS Transition plan for India’s power sector involving the progressive retirement of 36 GW of capacity in 211 obsolete Thermal Power Plants (TPP)s based on key performance parameters and shifting their load to upcoming modern TPPs and Nuclear Power Plants. Implementation of the NIAS Transition Plan will enable the National Grid to meet the peak demand up to March 2030 with lower Capex and tariffs while reducing coal consumption, water requirement, air pollution, and CO2 emissions.

To survive and persist in fragmented, human-dominated landscapes, especially in the Anthropocene, elephants often need to modify their behavior. In this chapter, using empirical data, the authors assess the behavioral adaptability of elephants, as determined by their innate biological variables, such as age, sex, and grouping patterns at the population level, and discuss the impacts of global climatic changes on the behavior and distribution of Asian elephants, as evidenced through their own studies. 

This study investigated factors related to people’s choice of conflict mitigation strategies against commensal monkey species in two regions in india.

This study examines the link between shoaling decisions and behavioural traits in a hatchery reared population of an endangered megafish, the Deccan mahseer (Tor khudree).

This paper proposes a practical framework to assess the spatial reliability of frugivores as seed dispersers and posits that it is essential to maintain viable populations of macaques across their range and keep human interventions at a minimum to ensure that they continue to reliably disperse the seeds of a broad range of plant species in the Anthropocene. It further suggests that this framework be used for assessing the spatial reliability of other taxonomic groups as seed dispersers.

Although animals are the primary focus of studies in human-animal studies (HAS), very few ethologists engage with this discipline. Insights from HAS can help provide a deeper and richer understanding of animal behaviour and humananimal interactions. HAS perspectives regarding animal and human spaces, the sociozoological scale theory, and the concepts of animal agency and intersubjectivity in human-animal interactions help demystify puzzling aspects of human-wildlife conflict scenarios and impel a re-examination of ethological dictums and methodologies.