Zoology
Profile
Head of Department : Ms. Seema P. Ajbani
Department of Zoology was established in the year 1965 with FY and SY B. Sc. Zoology, the first batch of T.Y. B.Sc. Zoology stepped out in the year 1981. From 2012, our students have been engaged in M.Sc. & Ph.D. It is affiliated to University of Mumbai and caters to B. Sc. Zoology undergraduate course for about 400 students every year guided by 4 permanent faculties. Department has 2 well equipped labs (Junior & Senior) with modern instruments and a Zoology research Centre. The faculties are authors of Zoology textbooks and Practical books publish by UoM and are also involved in minor and major research projects of UoM & UGC. The teachers are involved in publishing articles in peer reviewed journals. To inculcate scientific aptitude in students’ various activities are regularly conducted in the Department. Our alumni actively contribute in diverse capacities to inspire and mentor the current generation of students.
Programmes offered: B.Sc. Zoology, M.Sc. By Research, Ph.D. in Zoology
Objectives of the Department
- To nurture interest in the students for the subject of Zoology.
- To create awareness and understanding of the basic and modern concepts of Zoology.
- To inculcate good laboratory practices in students and to train them about scientific handling of important instruments.
- To make the students digitally literate, capable of using computers for Bioinformatics and computation and of appropriate software for analysis of genomics and proteomics data.
- To inculcate in students scientific temperament and abilities of critical thinking and analysis.
- To develop in students the spirit of enquiry, the ability for asking relevant/appropriate questions relating to issues and problems in the field of Zoology, and planning, executing and reporting the results of an experiment or investigation in a scientific manner.
- To empower students to take up entrepreneurship in applied fields of Zoology.
- To bring awareness for nature and biodiversity through field visits and motivate them to create sound and peaceful environment for community and society.
- Provide a broad range of extra-curricular/out of the box activities for honing their leadership skills.
- Allow our students to reinvent themselves in response to the changing demands of society keeping their moral values grounded.
Faculty Profile
| Sr No | Name of Teacher | Qualification | Teaching Experience (years) | Awards, Recognition, Fellowships | Links to Papers Published | Links to citation index (google scholar) | Recognition as Research Guide/ PG Teacher |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ms Seema P Ajbani | MSc BEd SET | 23 | Coauthor of Patent on HIV-1C vaccine Recipient of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Global Health Travel Award Life Member of Indian Association of Biological Sciences | https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Seema-P-Ajbani-2080816879 | https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=NsSal4cAAAAJ&hl=en | PG Teacher |
| 2 | Dr Shashibhal M Pandey | M.Sc. NET, PhD | 12 | https://scholar.google.co.in/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0,5&q=shashibhal+pandey&btnG&pli=1 | https://scholar.google.co.in/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0,5&q=shashibhal+pandey&btnG&pli=1 | PG Teacher and Research Guide | |
| 3 | Dr. Sandeep Garg | M.Sc. NET, PhD/td> | 11 | MSc. by Papers. PhD Guide, SRF NET JRF, SRF, Norwegian Government Scholarship | https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Dyd_i0cAAAAJ&hl=en | https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Dyd_i0cAAAAJ&hl=en | PG Teacher and Research Guide |
| 4 | Dr Meena Poonja | M.Sc. PhD | 7 |
Research Projects (2016-17 onwards)
- To study the effects of Makardhwaj Ras (An Ayurvedic Aphrodisiac) on Male Reproductive health in mice during aging. minor research project (Mumbai University) Rs 70000.
- Effect of Withnia somniferan and N jatamansi on Heartbeat of Moinaminor research project (Mumbai University) Rs 30000.
Promotion of Research Culture among the UG students
We encourage visits to research institutions such as Homi Bhabha Center for Science Education, TIFR to promote research culture among the students. Our S.Y. B. Sc. students participated in the Orientation Session on CUBE (Collaborative Undergraduate Biology Education) in the CUBE LAB at the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (TIFR) Mumbai during the months of August and September. It was an initiative to sensitize our undergraduate students with fundamental research aptitude.
After taking orientation from HBCSE these students were encouraged to carry out small scale research work at our Zoology research Lab, under the guidance of teachers of the department.
National level COVID-19 Awareness E- Quiz was conducted online in year 2020 to create awareness among the society, especially the students about the COVID-19 pandemic. Approximately 2015 people participated from different states in India.
Student Achievements
The UG as well as PhD students from our department actively participated in various intracollegiate and intercollegiate events and won many awards.
i . B.Sc.(Zoology) team of Smt.CHM college won the Bandra bird race competition organized by Bandra College in Jan 2019.
ii Mr. Gaurav Chaurasia from FYBSc Zoology won the Second Prize in the Wildlife Category in the Intercollegiate Photography Competition ANIPEX organized by SIES College, Sion, Mumbai. (AY 2019-2020)
ii. Mr. Tanmoy Bandopadhyay from TYBSc Zoology won the third prize at the Intercollegiate Photography Competition at the Gogate Jogalekar College, Ratnagiri. (AY 2019-2020)
iii. Best Research Paper Presentation was awarded to Ph D scholars Miss. Veena Dongare and Raj Kumar Yadav in the National Science Conference on Recent trends in Science and Technology, held at K. L. E college of Science and Commerce, Kalamboli, Navi Mumbai. (AY 2019-2020)
Faculty Achievements
i. Dr Shashibhal M Pandey was awarded the DD Kaushambi Teacher Mentor Award by CUBE-HBCSE (TIFR).
ii. Dr Shashibhal M Pandey was appointed as member of Board of Studies Institute of Advanced Research at Gandhi Nagar and a resource person for NTS Program at HBCSE (TIFR), Mumbai and the Two-day National Workshop on finalization of teaching learning resources for Life Science teachers organized by NIEPA, New Delhi
iii. Two of our Faculty Dr Shashibhal M Pandey (Rs 30,000) and Dr Sandeep Garg (Rs 70,000) received funding for Minor Research Projects from University of Mumbai in 2019-20.
iv. Ms. Seema P Ajbani, Dr Shashibhal Pandey and Dr. Sandeep Garg co-authored various textbooks for Zoology students published by The University of Mumbai for Academic year 2019-2020.
v. Dr Shashibhal Pandey was the Convener of Semester VI textbooks and practical books published by UOM for T.Y.B.Sc. students.
vi. Ms. Seema P Ajbani and Dr Shashibhal Pandey contributed as Resource persons in the One Day Workshop on M.Sc. Part-I Zoology Revised Syllabus to be implemented from 2019-20 held at M.D. College, Parel Mumbai on 20th April, 2019.
vii. Ms. Seema P Ajbani was one of the Convenors and Dr Shashibhal Pandey and Dr. Sandeep Garg actively contributed as members of M. Sc. Zoology Part I New Syllabus Framing Committee of University of Mumbai.
viii. Ms. Seema P Ajbani was the Co-ordinator of M.Sc. Zoology Semester III Developmental Biology and Endocrinology Course at the University of Mumbai.
ix. Ms. Seema P. Ajbani was also appointed as a member of PG Time Table Committee in Zoology and Coordinator of Endocrinology at M Sc Part II Zoology.
Development of E-Content
Dr Shashibhal Pandey initiated the development of E-Content in the form of Video lecture on Protein Sequencing which is available on YouTube (Link: https://youtu.be/pIVZPaknvsY)
Research Publications by Students and Faculty
As an outcome of research both students and faculty published their research in scientific journals. Dr Shashibhal Pandey published 3 research papers in 2019-20 and Dr. Sandeep Garg published one research paper in UGC recognized UGC CARE journal in May 2019. Even our students were prolific and presented and published papers based on their research. Mr. Ameya Kulkarni from TYBSc Zoology and Mr. Jatin Joshi and Balkrishna Sawant from SYBSc Zoology published their research papers in reputed scientific journals and also presented their papers in State level Conferences in 2019-2020.