We are also thankful to all the participants for their cooperation and efforts.We extend our sincere gratitude to the project director, Afrin Sharabony, whose exceptional efforts led to the successful arrangement of funding for our initiative. Afrin Sharabony, an esteemed alumnus of the Study of the United States Institutes (SUSI), demonstrated remarkable dedication and skill in securing the necessary resources, ensuring the realization of our project. Partial funding for this event has been provided by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs via Meridian International Center as the implementing partner.
Webinar No.06: Status of Air and Noise Quality in the Coastal Area of Bangladesh: A Study in Cox’s Bazar Area ( 26 December 2021)
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Webinar No.05: Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction: Opportunities and Challenges in the Southeast Coastal Area of Bangladesh ( 28 August 2021)
Coastal Research Unit (CRU) successfully organized a webinar titled “Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction: Opportunities and Challenges in the Southeast Coastal Area of Bangladesh” on 28 August 2021 at 8 PM. The webinar was enlightened by the presence of eminent scholars, scientists, research students and professionals in related fields.
Dr. Mohammad Najmul Islam was the keynote speaker in the webinar, which was chaired by Prof. Dr. M. Shahidul Islam. The webinar had vibrant discussion and insightful engagement of the participants in the Q/A session.
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Webinar No.04: Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and Our Coastal Ecosystems (17 July 2021)
Coastal Research Unit (CRU) successfully organized a webinar titled “Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and Our Coastal Ecosystems” on 17 July 2021 at 8 PM (BST). The webinar was enlightened by the presence of eminent scholars, scientists, research students and professionals in related field from both Bangladesh and India.
Dr. Haseeb Md. Irfanullah was the keynote speaker in the webinar, which was chaired by Prof. Dr. M. Shahidul Islam. The webinar had vibrant discussion and insightful engagement of the participants in the Q/A session.
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Webinar No.03: Marine Fish Hilsa and Its Socio-ecological Significance for Bangladesh (19 June 2021)
Coastal Research Unit (CRU) successfully organized a webinar titled “Marine Fish Hilsa and Its Socio-ecological Significance for Bangladesh” on 19 June 2021 at 8 pm (BST). The webinar was enlightened by the presence of eminent scholars, scientists, research students, and professionals in related field from Bangladesh, India, Malaysia and Germany.
Professor Dr. Niamul Naser was the keynote speaker in the webinar, which was chaired by Prof. Dr. M. Shahidul Islam. The webinar was enlightened with vibrant discussion, and insightful engagement of the participants in the Q/A session.
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Webinar No.02 : Tidal River Management-Lower Bengal Delta (29 May 2021)
Coastal Research Unit (CRU) successfully organized a webinar titled “Tidal River Management-Lower Bengal Delta” on 29 May 2021 at 8:30 PM. The webinar was enlightened by the presence of eminent scholars, scientists, research students, and professionals in related field from both Bangladesh and West Bengal, India.
Professor Dr. Dilip Kumar Datta, was the key note speaker in the webinar, which was chaired by Prof. Dr.M. Shahidul Islam. After the presentation, there was a short documentary show on TRM. The webinar was enlightened with vibrant discussion, and insightful engagement of the participants in the Q/A session.
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10 April, 2021 : CRU Get-together
Reliving the past glory and hopes for the future
The Coastal Research Unit (CRU) in the Department of Geography and Environment at the University of Dhaka organized a get-together for alumni and current members of the unit on 10th of April (Friday) at 8:00pm (BTS). It was set to be a very informal session where the past members of CRU from different parts of the world connected to know about the current activities of the unit and vice versa. Prof. Dr. M. Shahidul Islam, the team leader of CRU, presided over the session which was moderated by Afrin Sharabony. As the past alumni, this was a great opportunity for us to reflect on memories while working with CRU, the Physical Geography lab, and fieldwork experiences with Prof. Dr. M. Shahidul Islam. The participants included a range of individuals, including the founding members of CRU and the research students of Physical Geography lab, immediate past alumni and current faculty members involved in the unit. The session involved a range of professionals in academia to film making and administration.
The session consisted of different individuals reflecting on the diverse ideal they gained while working with CRU under the supervision of Prof. Islam. Dr. Nazla Bushra from Louisiana State University shared her experiences working with Prof. Islam as his M.S. thesis student. One of the founding members of CRU, Dhrubo Das reflected how his experiences in CRU helped him to build-up his career as a film maker. Joyita Das who is currently working as an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) depicted what ideals she learned from the disciplined workflow that Prof. Islam instills in his students and how it helped her to cope with the difficult life as a police officer. Md. Tariqul Islam, Faculty Member of SUST, shared his experiences working as one of the founding contributors of the Physical geography lab of Dhaka University, as well as the CRU. He mentioned the immense struggle including limited resources that had to face to establish the first Physical Geography lab in the Department. He also reiterated the fact that there is a need for more people willing to come forward and give their labor rather than just a leader to establish a meaningful target. Other CRU alumni, including Sanjoy Roy, B. M. Avi Nahmias, Mahnaz Sarker Meem, Mahmuda Islam, Issac Sku Sohag, Afzalunnasa Ony and Shimul Sarker were also present and spoke at the get-together. It was truly amazing to realize how research initiatives taken by CRU could have a greater impact on a mass level!
Current members of the faculty including Dr. Asib Ahmed and Artat Bin Ali shared their hopes and aspirations with CRU and urged all past members to contribute building a network of peers who are unified to promote physical geography and coastal research in Bangladesh. The session involved several nostalgic moments where Prof. Dr. M. Shahidul Islam shared different experiences on establishing CRU and its past glory days. He reiterated the fact that the current enthusiastic members will take initiative to take the unit forward and that the alumni would be involved in the process as well wherever possible and necessary.
The entire session was vibrated by enthusiastic participation of student volunteers, such as Afrin Sharabony, Sadman Ahmed, Padmanabha Chowdhury and Rakibul Islam.
As immediate past alumni of CRU, it was an honor for us to witness the rejuvenation of CRU, and get the opportunity to share our experiences and motivate the current members to work diligently to establish the unit as a pioneer research initiative in Bangladesh. Echoing with the past and present members, we cannot help reiterating how much involvement with CRU and research with physical geography under Prof. Islam has positively impacted us. On behalf of the alumni, we sincerely hope that the new members of the unit will take CRU to greater heights.
Written By: Monojit Saha1 & Samrin Sumaiya Sauda2
1 Graduate Student, Environment and Geography, Center for Earth Observation Science- University of Manitoba, Canada Email : monojits76@gmail.com
2 Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Geography, Virginia Tech, USA. Email: sauda.geo60@gmail.com
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Webinar No.01 : South-eastern Coastal Environment for Bangladesh (21 March 2021)
A webinar titled “South-eastern Coastal Environment of Bangladesh” was organized by Coastal Research Unit (CRU) on 21 March 2021. The webinar was enlightened by a good number of participants and esteemed guests. The webinar was chaired by Professor Dr. M. Shahidul Islam.
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5 March, 2021 : Executive Committee Meeting
A meeting was organized by the CRU executive team under the chair of Prof. Dr. M. Shahidul Islam. In the meeting it was decided to monitor the major environmental issues along the coastal belt of Bangladesh for a period of five years. Initially three topics have been considered for continuous monitoring, which are:
- Monitoring Coastal Erosion
- Monitoring Coastal Pollution, and
- Monitoring Environmental issues in the major development hubs along the coastal belt.