"Professor receives Fulbright Specialist Award to study air pollution in Nepal" [Archive]

September 13, 2023
By: Worcester State University News

Nabin Malakar, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Earth, Environment, and Physics, is one of two faculty from Worcester State University’s School of Science, Technology, and Health to be awarded a 2023 Fulbright Specialist Award. The award will enable Malakar to train researchers in Nepal on the use of low-cost sensors, remote sensing techniques, model development, data analysis, and the art of communicating research and to organize a series of workshops at the Kathmandu Institute of Applied Sciences.

Malakar, an expert in practical applications of environmental observations focusing on air pollution and urban heat island phenomena, is expected to make a significant contribution to the field of environmental science.

“I am honored to have been awarded a Fulbright Specialist award,” said Malakar. “This is a great opportunity to share my expertise with the community and collaborate with scientists.”

The workshops are expected to have a significant impact on the field of environmental science in Nepal. They will help Nepali researchers to develop the skills and knowledge they need to conduct cutting-edge research on air pollution. This research will help to raise awareness about the status of air quality in Nepal and provide insights to protect the health of its citizens.

Malakar is actively involved in various communities, holding the position of vice president at the Association of Nepali Physicists in America. He also serves on the board of Aldrich Astronomical Society, one of the oldest amateur astronomy clubs in the United States, situated in the heart of Massachusetts. In his spare time, he organizes a variety of public outreach programs as a NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Solar System Ambassador.

Margaret Kerr, Ph.D., professor of chemistry, who received a Fulbright Specialist Award in 2007, received a second award and will return to Thailand to continue her subject expertise in chemistry.

The Fulbright Scholar Program for academics and professionals awards more than 1,700 fellowships each year, enabling 800 U.S. scholars to go abroad and 900 visiting scholars to come to the United States.

https://news.worcester.edu/professor-receives-fulbright-specialist-award-to-study-air-pollution-in-nepal/

https://usefnepal.org/grantee/fulbright-specialist-program-grantees/ 

My interview on DrishyaTV

अमेरिकामा कार्यरत नेपाली वैज्ञानिक डा. नवीन मालाकारले अमेरिकी अन्तरिक्ष संस्था नासामा काम गर्दा अविस्मरणीय अनुभव हासिल गरेको बताएका छन् । उनले सन् २०१४ देखि सन् २०१७ सम्म नासाको जेट प्रपल्स ल्याबमा पृथ्वीको तापमानसम्बन्धी अनुसन्धान गरेका थिए । ‘विश्वकै प्रतिष्ठित वैज्ञानिक संस्था नासामा अनुसन्धाता भएर काम गर्दा म एकदमै उत्साहित थिएँ । त्यहाँ केही गरेर देखाउनुपर्छ, के सिक्नुपर्छ भन्ने हुटहुटी मनभित्र रहेको थियो,’ उनी भन्छन् । नवीनले पृथ्वीको तापमान नाप्ने नयाँ गणितीय ‘एल्गोरिदम’ तयार पारेपछि वैज्ञानिक जगतमा उनको चर्चा बढेको थियो । यस कामका लागि उनले पृथ्वीका चार भूउपग्रहको २० वर्षदेखिको तथ्यांक विश्लेषण गरी तापमान नाप्नका लागि नयाँ विधि पत्ता लगाएका थिए । यो विधि पत्ता लागिसकेपछि अब एउटै गणितिय विधिअनुसार विश्वका विभिन्न स्थानको ताप नाप्न सकिने डा. नवीन बताउँछन् । योभन्दा पहिले पृथ्वीको तापमान सम्बन्धी अध्ययन–अनुसन्धान गर्दा अप्टिकल तथ्यांक मात्र उपलब्ध हुन्थ्यो । सन् २०११ मा न्युयोर्कस्थित सुली अल्बानी युनिभर्सिटीबाट कम्प्युटेसनल फिजिक्समा पिएचडी गरेका नवीन पृथ्वीको तापमान अर्थात् ज्वरो नाप्ने अनुसन्धानमा त्यसयता निरन्तर लागि परेका छन् । उनले सन् २००३ मा त्रिभुवन विश्वविद्यालय भौतिकशास्त्र विभागबाट ‘ब्ल्याक होल’सम्बन्धी अनुसन्धानमा एमएस्सी गरेका हुन् । उनी अहिले उस्टर स्टेट युनिभर्सिटी, म्यासाचुसेट्सको अर्थ, इन्भारोमेन्ट एन्ड फिजिक्स विभागमा असिस्टेन्ट प्रोफेसरका रुपमा अध्यापन तथा अनुसन्धान गर्दै आएका छन् । आफूले प्रतिपादन गरेको पृथ्वीको तापमान नाप्ने विधि जलवायु परिवर्तन, विपद्, कृषि बालीविज्ञान आदिका लागि उपयोगी हुने उनको धारणा छ । पछिल्लो समय उनी नेपालको विभिन्न क्षेत्रमा जलवायु परिवर्तन र तापमान वृद्घिसम्बन्धी अनुसन्धान गरिरहेका छन् । अनुसन्धान पूरा गरेर यसको नतिजा सार्वजनिक गर्न अझै केही समय लाग्ने उनको भनाइ छ । वैज्ञानिक अनुसन्धान, विज्ञान लेखन र भावी योजनामा केन्द्रित रहेर डा. नवीनसँग दृश्य टिभीले गरेको कुराकानी यहाँ प्रस्तुत गरिएको छ ।

URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR-4OZKFmd8

Convening the fourth ANPA Conference 2021

I am thankful for all the support and help received during organizing the fourth ANPA Conference 2021. It was held on a virtual platform on dates July 16 through 18, 2021. 

The special highlight of the conference was the Nobel Laureate Dr. Joachim Frank, who delivered a keynote talk during the conference. In his talk, he discussed his discovery about single-particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), for which he shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2017 with Jacques Dubochet and Richard Henderson. 

The second keynote talk was delivered by professor Bijaya Karki, Professor at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA. 

The third highlight of the conference was a Nepal focussed session that discussed the Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy of the Nepal government to engage Nepali scientific diaspora for the development of the country. Dr. Rudra Aryal facilitated the Nepali-diaspora session, with the panelists Dr. Sunil Babu Shrestha, the vice-chancellor of Nepal Academy of Science and Technology, Dr. Vishnu Raj Upreti, the executive chairperson of Policy Research Institute, Dr. Binil Aryal, the Dean of Institute of Science and Technology, Tribhuvan university discussed the current status of research activities in Nepal and how the Nepali diaspora could contribute to accelerating the research collaboration among Nepali scientists. 

During the three-day conference, there were 116 papers presented in two parallel sessions. The conference was held on a virtual platform as we could not run the in-person meetings. Hopefully next year we will have a hybrid program like we did in 2019 at Brooklyn College. 

The selected papers based upon the conference will have an opportunity to be published in the special issue of the Nepal physical Journal of Nepal Physical Society. We have made a special issue editorial team members consisting of myself, D.Pashupati Dhakal,  Dr. Arjun Dahal,  Dr. Chiranjivi Lamsal, and  Dr. Dilli Raj Paudyal. The editor of NPS (Dr. Binod Adhikari) will be the managing editor.

During the last leg of the conference, the annual general meeting (AGM) was held. Various activities conducted by ANPA were presented. Dr. Chandra Adhikari was the master of ceremony who summarized various ANPA activities, Dr. Shree Krishna Bhattarai presented the development of the new website platform, Dr. Pashupati Dhakal talked about the ANPA Winter Workshop 2020, Dr. CR Bhatt discussed the ANPA student travel award; Dr. Tikaram Neupane discussed the ANPA summer camp for the high school students, and the meeting ended with a message from the president Dr. Jagan Devkota. My sincere thanks to all the participants for the great enthusiasm and support provided by the community to organize a successful conference.

Use of smartphones in experimental physics...

Diffraction Experiments with a Smart Cart

The Physics Teacher 59, 272 (2021); https://doi.org/10.1119/10.0004155

Writes: The use of smartphones in experimental physics is by now widely accepted and documented.1–5

I included one of the smartphone lab using the camera to find the focal length of the phone's camera lens. 

1.M. Monteiro, C. Stari, C. Cabeza, and A. Marti, “The polarization of light and Malus’ law using smartphones,” Phys. Teach. 55, 264 (May 2017). https://doi.org/10.1119/1.4981030, Google ScholarScitation, ISI

2.A. Shakur and J. Kraft, “Measurement of Coriolis acceleration with a smartphone,” Phys. Teach. 54, 288 (May 2016). https://doi.org/10.1119/1.4947157, Google ScholarScitation, ISI

3.Martín Monteiro, Cecilia Cabeza, Arturo C. Marti, Patrik Vogt, and Jochen Kuhn, “Angular velocity and centripetal acceleration relationship,” Phys. Teach. 52, 312 (May 2014). https://doi.org/10.1119/1.4872422, Google ScholarScitation, ISI

4.Martín Monteiro, Cecilia Cabeza, and Arturo C. Marti, “Rotational energy in a physical pendulum,” Phys. Teach. 52, 180 (March 2014). https://doi.org/10.1119/1.4865529, Google ScholarScitation, ISI

5.A. Shakur and T. Sinatra, “Angular momentum,” Phys. Teach. 51, 564 (Dec. 2013). https://doi.org/10.1119/1.4830076, Google ScholarScitation, ISI

Researchers Identify Areas Impacted by Extreme Heat to Help Vulnerable Residents Prepare

Researchers at Worcester State are working on identifying “hot spots” in Worcester to help the most vulnerable city residents survive a growing number of extreme temperature events.

Assistant Professor of Earth, Environment, and Physics Nabin Malakar, Ph.D., and student John Veneziano ’20 are focusing on heat vulnerability, looking at places where income level, age range (children and elders are particularly vulnerable), and housing environment stress leave people at risk of being impacted by extreme heat events. Their research will help communities make decisions about safety, Malakar says.

“It just stands out from the data,” Malakar says. “More than 50 percent of people are living in urban areas where the heatwave can seriously impact human health and wellbeing.”

Venezio and Malakar’s research poster “Identifying Areas Impacted by Extreme Heat Events in Worcester, Massachusetts” was presented at the 100th American Meteorological Society meeting in Boston in January.

Extreme temperatures are “one of the leading causes of hospital visits and health issues,” write Malakar and Veneziano in their abstract. The impact of these extreme temperature events will increase as the Earth warms as a result of climate change.

“We want to make people aware of it so in the future we can be prepared about future climate changes,” Dr. Malakar says.

Malakar and Veneziano looked at the “urban heat island” effect, caused by a larger number of people and buildings close together in urban areas, the number of extreme heat events, and the expected increase in the number of these events as a result of climate change and the urban heat island effect that Worcester experiences.

His presentation was well-received. “[There were] a lot of good responses to the presentation. John was enthusiastic about it,” Dr. Malakar says.

Working on this research was an opportunity for Veneziano to get experience and exposure. While Veneziano was very prepared going into the international conference, he was still “really nervous.” There were more than 1,000 posters organized by topic, and more than 40 people viewed with interest and asked questions about his presentation, Veneziano says.

“People were generally really curious about what I had to say,” Veneziano says, especially given that Malakar has worked with the core team of NASA scientists who worked on developing the satellite remote sensing data.

Veneziano and Malakar started working together when Veneziano was in one of Malakar’s environmental science classes. Veneziano was a “bright student” and he “stood out” Malakar says. While Veneziano was “kind of shy in the beginning,” he now needs minimal direction in the second year of their ongoing research.

“The purpose of research is to make the difference,” Malakar says. “The ultimate goal is to contribute to society to make a difference in people’s life.”