Nandita B. Basu is a

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts Scientific method, scientific research to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, ...

and

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

at the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a public research university with a main campus in Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality ...

. Her research is centered on

anthropogenic effects Human impact on the environment (or anthropogenic impact) refers to changes to biophysical environments and to ecosystems, biodiversity, and natural resources caused directly or indirectly by humans. Modifying the environment to fit the needs ...

on water availability and quality via changes in land use and climate. Basu is recognized for her work on discovering the impact of nutrient legacies and proposed solutions to improving water quality of lakes and coastal zones. She is a member of Robert E. Horton Medal Committee.

Early life and education

Basu earned her Bachelor of Civil Engineering from

Jadavpur University Jadavpur University is a public state university located in Jadavpur, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It was established in 1905 as ''Bengal Technical Institute'' and was converted into Jadavpur University in 1955. In 2022, it was ranked fourth am ...

in 1997,

Master of Technology A Master of Engineering (abbreviated MEng, M.E. or M.Eng.) is either an academic or professional master's degree in the field of engineering. International variations Australia In Australia, the Master of Engineering degree is a research deg ...

Environmental technology Environmental technology (envirotech) or green technology (greentech), also known as ''clean technology'' (''cleantech''), is the application of one or more of environmental science, green chemistry, environmental monitoring and electronic device ...

from the

Indian Institute of Technology The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are central government owned public technical institutes located across India. They are under the ownership of the Ministry of Education of the Government of India. They are governed by the Institu ...

in 2001, and

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

Civil Engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

from

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

in 2006.

Career and research

Basu is currently an associate professor at the

in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Previous to this position, Basu taught undergraduate courses on Principles in Environmental Engineering and graduate-level courses on Groundwater and Water Resources Sustainability at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

. Basu also runs the Basu Lab at the

where she and her diverse research group discover innovative solutions to water sustainability challenges by studying patterns in landscape, hydrology, and biochemistry and the role humans play in changing such patterns. Basu is known for her research on how through altered land use and changing climate humans impact water availability and quality, specifically through agricultural practices such as the use of fertilizers and intensive livestock production. Much of her work is centered on finding solutions to the water sustainability challenges these impacts pose. Basu's expertise lies specifically in: contaminant fate and transport, watershed biogeochemistry, ecosystem restoration, human impacts on the environment, and water resources sustainability. She is recognized for her work on discovering the impacts of nutrient legacies on water quality and her proposed solutions to improving the water quality of lakes and coastal zones.

Awards and honors

Basu is a member of The Royal Society of Canada's College of New Scholar's, Artists and Scientists as of September 2019. The grants and fellowships she has been awarded include:
2014 Ontario Early Researcher Award

2010 CUAHSI Young Career Fellowship
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2009 Gordon Research Conference Travel Award
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2005-06 Ludwig Kruhe Fellowship at Purdue University

2005 Bossler Environmental Grant at Purdue University
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2003 Joseph P. Chu Fellowship at Purdue University

Publications

Select publications from Basu and her group are below. For a more complete list of publications, see Basu's Google Scholar profile * The future of hydrology: An evolving science for a changing world. 2010. ''Water Resources Research'' * Nutrient loads exported from managed catchments reveal emergent biogeochemical stationarity. 2012. ''Geophysical Research Letters.'' * Geographically isolated wetlands are important biogeochemical reactors on the landscape. 2015 ''Bioscience''

Public engagement

"Geographically isolated wetlands are important biogeochemical reactors to the landscape"
an article Basu co-authored, gains relevance in a time in which the Trump administration is rolling back clean water protections set in place during the Obama-era. These protections previously placed limits on chemicals that were allowed to be used near streams, wetlands, and other bodies of water. Without these protections a permit will no longer be necessary to dispose of potentially harmful chemicals into streams and wetlands. The authors concluded that despite the lack of connection to surface water or adjacency to jurisdictional waters that other wetlands have, geographically isolated wetlands are essential to biogeochemical processing of landscapes. Therefore, they are just as essential to maintaining the health of jurisdictional waters and aquatic systems and should have the same protections as those protected by the law. Trump's rollbacks would directly impact these wetlands that Basu and her associates argue are essential to the health of our jurisdictional waters and aquatic systems as well as numerous other streams and bodies of water.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Basu, Nandita Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Krannert School of Management alumni University of Waterloo faculty Jadavpur University alumni IIT Kanpur alumni Women scientists from West Bengal Women hydrologists