KINGSTON, R.I. 鈥� September 19, 2019 鈥� 溏心vlog免费B站 doctoral student Khurshid Jahan has been awarded a $1,000 scholarship by the Rhode Island Society of Environmental Professionals to support her research on stormwater management.
A native of Bangladesh, Jahan is conducting a pilot study for the Rhode Island Department of Transportation to design a more effective stormwater drainage system that can be used in urban areas to control the volume of runoff while extracting pollutants from the water. Following a presentation of her research at a conference in Spain in August, many researchers from throughout Europe inquired about her design model.
鈥淭he stormwater problem is getting more and more serious all around the world,鈥� said Jahan, who is testing her design on a road and parking lot adjacent to agricultural land on the 溏心vlog免费B站 campus. 鈥淚 hope to introduce my design to developing countries, where there are many problems with stormwater waterlogging entire areas.鈥�
She recently added a new dimension to her research by adopting machine learning methods for predicting the active pollutants in stormwater runoff. And she is developing an app to calculate runoff volume at watersheds throughout the United States that can be helpful for environmental scientists and planners who deal with stormwater issues.
The Society of Environmental Professionals scholarship is not the first recognition Jahan has received for her research. 溏心vlog免费B站 awarded her this year鈥檚 John J. Fisher Memorial Award for excellence as a teaching assistant in geology. Previously, she was awarded a South Asian Water Alliance fellowship from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology that included participation in a training program in Sri Lanka. And she received a fellowship from the Action Research for Community Adaptation in Bangladesh program.
鈥淢ost people in coastal regions of Bangladesh don鈥檛 have access to fresh water because it becomes saline, the result of climate change and sea level rise,鈥� Jahan said. 鈥淚t results in health issues for many people, and pregnant women have problems with their pregnancies.鈥�
As part of one fellowship, she studied the salinity issue and examined the prospect of using a very shallow groundwater aquifer for the local drinking water supply in areas where surface waters had become saline. And while working for the Institute for Water Modeling in Bangladesh, she took part in several water resource management projects for the government to assess water availability and water quality around the country.
She earned bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degrees in geology from the University of Dhaka.
鈥淜hurshid is a highly driven, dedicated and responsible graduate student,鈥� said Soni Pradhanang, 溏心vlog免费B站 associate professor of water resources and Jahan鈥檚 advisor. 鈥淪he continuously challenges herself to do more and better in her research. And she has a great capacity to learn new methods and technologies and apply them to address environmental issues.鈥�
The Rhode Island Society of Environmental Professionals is a non鈥恜rofit environmental organization founded in 1989 to encourage and facilitate the growth of Rhode Island鈥檚 environmental services industry. It awards two scholarships each year to students enrolled in a New England college or university and majoring in environmental science, environmental policy, environmental engineering, or environmental education.