Prajakta Kumbhar

As a British Council Women in STEM scholar, currently I am pursuing my Masters in Pollution and Environmental Control from the University of Manchester. Studying at one of the academically recognized universities has given me insights into real-world problems through various practicals, coursework, and guidance from professors at the University. 

Regarding the role I am applying for, here are some of my relevant experiences; during my postgrad, I have been working on numerous projects for flood risk assessment on various rivers in the UK and water resource management for different geographical locations like China, Ethiopia using Flood Modeler, GIS tools, Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) and Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) software. Efforts were also taken to understand the flow of wastewater, flows from reservoirs into various river systems, and their impact on naturalized flow, ecosystem, and habitat in those catchment areas. Additionally, I also got insights into how pollution transforms and mobile and their effects on groundwater and land. As of now, for my final semester project, I am working on particulate matter (one of the harmful air pollutants in India) and its relationship with metrological parameters using R tools and machine learning (python).

After my undergrad in the field of biotechnology, I started working as a Junior Research Associate in a Toxicology department at sa-FORD (A Sanctuary of Research and Development) which is a GLP-accredited clinical research organization working under international regulatory guidelines (OECD). One of my key responsibilities included testing fertilizers and other drugs on animal models and generating reports based on statistical analysis, in accordance with global regulatory guidelines. This experience improved my general understanding of organizational skills, time dynamics, project planning, and management with cost-effective strategies. In addition, for my undergraduate final thesis, I worked on a radioactive heavy metal-contaminated land project at BARC, India. The primary responsibility was to determine the genetic makeup of the species found in the contaminated soil. This is when I became interested in environmental protection. 

I am pursuing master's in environmental science at the University of Manchester and before that completed my graduation in B.Tech Biotechnology.