Assistant Professor
I'm a Civil Engineer with a Doctorate in Environmental Engineering. My Research focus is on estuarine geochemistry, sediment contamination, Paleoclimate studies, and Wastewater treatment. During my work tenure, I have worked with instruments like ICP-OES (Inductively Coupled Plasma - Optical Emission Spectrometry), AAS (Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy), TOC (Total Organic Carbon Analyzer), Ion Chromatography(IC), Anodic Stripping Voltammetry, and UV Spectrophotometer. I am familiar with processing and analyzing geochemical samples. I am also experienced in organizing field campaigns for estuarine and riverine sampling. Also, I have served as a Design Engineer in various multi-national Companies.
Finally, a professional dedicated to applying scientific and engineering principles to protect and improve the environment.
| Sl.No | Qualification Level | University | Area of Specialization | Year of Compeltion | Awards | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ph.D | Manipal | Environmental Engineering | 2022 |
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| 2 | PG | MIT Manipal | Environmental Engineering | 2015 | |||||
| 3 | UG | VTU Belgavi | Civil Engineering | 2004 | |||||
Development and Planning Group - Chairperson
Eco-Club - Coordinator
Autonomous- Coordinator
Internal Test - Coordinator
Current
Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering from 20-09-2023 to Present
Previous
Paleoclimate Studies
Estuarine Geochemistry
Riverine Geochemistry
Sediment Contamination
The fate of trace metals
Water Quality
Wastewater Treatment
Balakrishna, K., Praveenkumarreddy, Y., Nishitha, D., Gopal, C.M., Jayakrishna, K. S., Krishnamurthy, Bhat., Khare, N, Dhangar, K., and Manish, K. (2023). Occurrences of UV filters, Endocrine Disruptive Chemicals, Alkyl Phenolic Compounds, Pharmaceuticals, Fragrances, and Hormones in the Waste and Coastal Water of the Antarctica. Environmental Research, Impact factor = 8.431 (Q1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2023.115327.
Nishitha D, Akshitha V, Arun K, Amrish VN, Praveenkumarreddy Y, Khare N, Udayashankar HN, Manjunatha BR and Balakrishna K (2021) Dissolved carbon and silica fluxes from Kali, Sharavati and Sita-Swarna rivers, Southwestern India. Journal of Environmental Management, 286: 112273
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112273 Impact factor = 8.910 (Q1)
Nishitha D, Sudheer AK, Arun K, Amrish VN, Mahesh G, Udayashankar HN, Balakrishna K (2022). Risk assessment and Spatio-temporal distribution of dissolved trace metals in Swarna, Sharavati and Kali estuaries, South-West Coast of India. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, pp. 1- 18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-22812-4 Impact factor = 5.190 (Q1)
Nishitha D, Amrish VN, Arun K, Warrier AK, Udayashankar HN, Balakrishna K (2022). Study of trace metal contamination and ecological risk assessment in the sediments of a tropical river estuary, Southwestern India. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 194:94. 10.1007/s10661-021-09728-1 Impact factor = 3.307 (Q2)
Nishitha, D., Praveenkumarreddy, Y., Khare, N, Udayashankar, H. N and Balakrishna, K. (2019). Spatio-temporal variability of trace metals and major ions in a small tropical river, Southwest Coast of India. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 191: 698 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10661-019-7852-y Impact factor = 3.307 (Q2)
Arun K, Balakrishna K, Amrish VN, Nishitha D, Udayashankar HN, and Manjunatha BR, Khare N (2022). Chemical denudation in a small mountainous coastal river in the tropics: Insights from Kali River, Southwestern India. Applied Geochemistry, 137:105198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2022.105198 Impact factor = 3.841 (Q1)
Amrish VN, Arun K, Nishitha D, Balakrishna K., Udayashankar HN, and Khare N (2022). Major ion chemistry and silicate weathering rate of a small Western Ghats River, Sharavati, southwestern India. Applied Geochemistry, 136: 105182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2021.105182 Impact factor = 3.841 (Q1)
Samal, P., Singarasubramanian, S. R., Manoj, M. C., Srivastava, J., Dsouza, N., Balakrishna, K., and Ali, S. (2022). Heavy metal contamination assessment and its associated human health risk evaluation in the Mahanadi River sediments, India. International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-022-04630-w Impact factor = 3.519 (Q1)
Junior Research Fellow 2018-2020
Worked under the Ministry of Earth Sciences funded project (MoES)
Senior Research Fellow 2020-2022
Worked under the Ministry of Earth Sciences funded project (MoES)
Second position in MTech Environmental Engineering, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal (2013-2014)
ISTE- Indian Society for Technical Education
Attended a One-day workshop on "Modern Framework and Scaffolding technologies" at St Joseph Engineering College, Mangaluru on 21st November 2023
Organized & Attended a One-day workshop on "Pipeline design and fittings by Supreme pipelines" at St Joseph Engineering College, Mangaluru on 25th November 2023
Participated three-day workshop on "Bacterial Concrete - New era of construction industry" at St Joseph Engineering College, Mangaluru from 07 to 09 February 2024.
Participated in 5 day GIAN course on “Geochemical Monitoring of Rivers-Theory, Practice, and Data Interpretation” from 22nd to 27th November 2018 at IIT Kanpur.
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Participated in 5 day GIAN course on “Managing Coastal Systems, A Biogeochemical Perspective” from 24th to 28th September 2018 at Department of Marine Geology, Mangalore University, India
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Participated 5 days National Level Faculty Development Programme on “Advanced Surveying” from 23rd to 27th January 2017 at Sri Venkateshwara College of Engineering, Bangalore, India
D’Souza Nishitha, Keshava Balakrishna, Kumar Arun, Vadakkeveedu Narayan Amrish, Athiyarath Krishnan Sudheer, and Harikripa Narayana Udayashankar (2022). “Impact of dissolved trace metals on human health in tropical river estuaries, South-West Coast of India”. Goldschmidt-2022 International Conference, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, 11th – 15th July 2022.
D’Souza Nishitha, V.N Amrish, Arun Kumar, K. Balakrishna, and H.N Udaya Shankar (2021). Biogeochemistry of Nutrient, dissolved Silica along the salinity gradients of three Estuaries, Southwest coast of India”. First annual conference on “Frontiers in Geosciences Research Conference (FGRC-2021)” during 27th -28th September 2021.
D’Souza Nishitha, K. Balakrishna, and H. N. Udaya Shankar (2020) “Estimate of gross and net fluxes beyond the estuarine zone of Kali, Sharavati, and Sita-Swarna to the Arabian Sea, west coast of India”. International Conference (26th) on “Advances in Applied Physics and Earth Sciences”, Manipal University, Jaipur, 18th to 20th December 2020.
D’Souza Nishitha, K. Balakrishna, H. N. Udaya Shankar, and Anish Kumar Warrier (2020) “Assessment of metal contamination in the sediments of Sita –Swarna estuary, southwest coast of India”. International Conference on Water: From Pollution to Purification (ICW 2020), Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, 12th -14th December 2020.
Dr Nishitha J DSouza
Assistant Professor
B.E, M.Tech, Ph.D
