B3 Researcher

B3. RESEARCHER (maximum 7 pages which includes a CV and a list of main achievements) Research experience The applicant must present a comprehensive description of his/her research experience. A scientific/professional CV must be provided and should mention explicitly: - academic achievements - list of other professional activities - any other relevant information

SANTOSH KUMAR PRAJAPATI Pollution Ecology Research Laboratory Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University,Varanasi, 221005 [email protected], [email protected] Present Position Senior Research Fellow in Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, 221005, India. (From July, 13, 2006) Date of Birth- 25th November, 1979 Nationality- Indian Working Language- English Permanent /Postal Address Santosh Kumar Prajapati S/o- Saranjeet Prajapati Village- Narayanpur (Dafi), P.O.- Naipura, District- Varanasi-221005, India. Phone No. 0542-2670537, Mobile No. +91-9936504596 E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] Educational qualifications Period Course  2008 (3rd March) Ph. D.-Thesis submitted on the topic “Ecological Investigation on Vehicular Pollution and its Impact on Plants”  Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Botany (specialization in stress and terrestrial ecology), Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Obtained First Division (66 %)  Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) - Botany, Zoology and Chemistry. Purvanchal University, Jaunpur Obtained First Division (66.5 %).  Intermediate- Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Hindi and English. S.G.R.R. Public School, C.B.S.E. Board, Obtained First Division (71.4 %)  High school- Hindi, English, Biology, Science, Mathematics, Social Studies, S.G.R.R. Public School, C.B.S.E. Board, Obtained First Division (73.6 %). Research Experience

 Working as Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi -221005, July 13, 2006 – present.  Worked as a Junior Research Fellow in the Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi -221005, July, 13, 2004- 12, July, 2006 (2 years).  During M.Sc. as part of special paper, I have done dissertation on the topic “crop weed interaction”  I have performed experiments relating to calculating various indices of biodiversity.  I have also calculated the ascorbic acid and phenol contents in plant leaves against stress of ozone. Awards and Fellowships  Qualified National Eligibility Test (NET) for the award of Junior Research fellowship (JRF) jointly conducted by University Grants Commission (UGC) and Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi of December 2003. Conferences/Seminars/Symposia attended  International Conference on Urban Planning and Environment: Strategies and Challenges. January,30&31, 2007, Elphinstone College, Mumbai.  National Seminar on Environmental Management in 21st Century: Issues and Challenges, 16-18 February 2006, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.  Third International Conference on Plants and Environmental pollution. 28 Nov.-2 Dec. 2005. NBRI, Lucknow, India.  National Symposium on “Cyanobacteria and Plants Under Environmental Stress: Responses, Defence Strategies and Biotechnological Prospects” February 25-27, 2005. Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.

Research results Outline the major achievements of the researcher. These may also include results in the form of funded projects, publications, patents, reports, invited participation in conferences etc., taking into account the level of experience. To help the expert evaluators better understand the level of skills and experience it is advisable to write a short description (250 words) of maximum three of the major accomplishments mentioning the purpose, results, skills acquired, derived applications etc.

I have calculated the concentrations of gaseous pollutants (SO 2 and NO2), particulate matter (PM) i.e. SPM and RSPM, and presence of metals and PAHs in PM. I was also interested to know whether presence of these pollutants in PM have any genotoxic effect or not and for this, I have assessed the genotoxicity of urban air pollutants using Tradescantia pallida micronucleus bioassay. The results clearly

indicated that there was positive and significant correlation between pollutants concentration and micronuclei formation in Tradescantia proving that these pollutants were genotoxic in nature and have adverse effect on meiotic process of Tradescantia. Although mutagenesis in Tradescantia and the risk of malignancies in human cannot be equated, Trad- MCN bioassay can be very useful as a proxy for assessing human health risk Biomonitoring seasonal variation of urban air polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) using Ficus benghalensis leaves was conducted so as to ascertain the fact that there is clear-cut quantitative relationship between air and leaf PAH concentrations, and that leaf pollutant concentrations reflect air contamination gradients. The results indicated that although there are no linear quantitative relationships between leaf and air PAHs concentrations, however the temporal pattern of leaf PAHs found is in conformity with the seasonal variations observed in leaf PAHs concentrations by other workers. Biomonitoring PAHs using Ficus also offers a practicable low cost alternative against high costs associated with conventional monitoring using high volume air samplers. I have also calculated air pollution tolerance index (APTI) of different plant species on the basis of four parameters viz. ascorbic acid content of leaf, leaf extract pH, total chlorophyll and relative water content of leaf for categorising them into sensitive or tolerant. Taking into consideration of APTI and various biological and socioeconomic characters of these plants species, anticipated performance index (API) was also calculated. Our findings show that on the basis of API, plants can be suggested for green belt development in urban areas to ameliorated urban air pollution. Publications relevant to this proposal  Prajapati, S.K., Tripathi, B.D. 2008. Assessing the Genotoxicity of Urban Air Pollutants in Varanasi City Using Tradescantia Micronucleus (TradMCN) Bioassay. Environment International. doi:10.1016/j.envint.2008.03.009  Prajapati, S.K., Tripathi, B.D. 2008. Seasonal Variation of Leaf Dust Accumulation and Pigment Content in Plant Species Exposed to Urban Particulates Pollution. Journal of Environmental Quality. 2008; 37: 865870.  Prajapati, S.K.; Tripathi,B.D.2007. Anticipated Performance Index of Some Tree Species Considered for Green Belt Development in and around an Urban Area: a Case Study of Varanasi City, India. Journal of Environmental Management. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2007.07.002  Prajapati, S.K.; Tripathi,B.D. Management of hazardous road derived respirable particulates using magnetic properties of tree leaves. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. doi:10.1007/s10661-007-98419.  Prajapati, S.K.; Tripathi,B.D. 2007. Biomonitoring Seasonal Variation of Urban Air Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) Using Ficus benghalensis Leaves. Environmental Pollution. 151: 543-548.

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Prajapati, S.K.; Tripathi,B.D.; 2007. The composition and relationships between trace element levels in PM10 released from vehicles and in leaves of Saraca indica and Lantana camara. AMBIO: A Journal of Human Environment. 36 (8): 704-705 Prajapati, S.K., Pandey, S.K., Tripathi, B.D., 2006. Monitoring of Vehicles Derived Particulates using Magnetic Properties of Leaves. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. 120 (1-3): 169-175. Pandey, S. K., Tripathi, B.D., Mishra, V.K., Prajapati, S. K., 2006. Size fractionated speciation of nitrate and sulfate aerosols in a sub-tropical industrial environment. Chemosphere.63: 49-57. Pandey, S.K., Tripathi, B.D., Prajapati, S.K., Mishra, V.K., Upadhyaya, A.R., Rai, P.K., Sharma, A.P., 2005. Magnetic Properties of Vehicles Derived Particulates and amelioration By Ficus infectoria: a Keystone species. AMBIO: A Journal of Human Environment. 35: 645- 647.

Independent thinking, leadership qualities, and capacity to transfer knowledge Describe the activities that reflect the researcher's initiative, independent thinking, project management- and leadership skills and his/her capacity to transfer knowledge.

During research, I was free from my supervisor side to plan and conduct new experiments that are unique and findings of which have some applications. My researches related to magnetic properties of vehicular derived particulates are unique and first of its kind in India. Our findings reported that vehicular emission contains magnetic particles and grain size of the particles is of the order of 0.3–3 μm, a size of potential hazard to human health due to its capacity to be respired deeply into the lungs and ability of trees to reduce particulate concentrations at respirable height within the atmosphere. This experiment has not been previously reported in our country. The Tradescantia pallida micronucleus bioassay is also unique and first of its kind wherein, it has been demonstrated that urban air pollutants are genotoxic in nature and thus may have adverse human health effects. I have submitted a project on this aspect to Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi, India for further investigation the mechanism of formation of micronuclei in Tradescantia and main pollutant responsible for this. The development of green belts on the basis of anticipated performance index (API) is very useful and we have requested the forest officials in our district to plant these plants for urban air pollution abatement. This experiment was greatly appreciated by Prof. Mark Burgman FAA, Director, Australian Centre of Excellence for Risk Analysis, School of Botany, University of Melbourne. Match between the fellow's profile and project Show that the applicant's skills and experience are suitable for the project proposed.

The proposed project “Exploring the anticipatory response of lichens to air pollutants: an overall investigation throughout the biological organizational scale” aimed to explore the properties of selected biomonitors of air pollution throughout the biological organizational scale, defining more in details the time framework of the responses and finding out, in an applicative perspective, the theoretical, technological and statisticals tool for detecting this relationship. The work involved in this project comprises of biomonitoring of air pollutants including trace metals in tissues, effects of air pollutants on lichens, biodiversity assessment of lichens to show their abundance and species composition. Since, I have done various biomonitoring works, including effects of air pollutants on pigment content (chlorophyll and ascorbic acid) of selected plant species that are reflected in my published research works, the present project is an ideal platform for me to show my expertise. Besides this, the biodiversity experiments that I performed during my post graduate (M.Sc) studies will certainly help me in calculating the abundance and species composition of lichens along pollution gradients.