Department of Botany

The Department of Botany came into existence in 1949. The former heads were Shri C. S. Belekar, Shri M. J. Pahade, Shri P. L. Bobde, Shri A. B. Bansod, and Dr. K. D. Gomkale. Since August 2005, Dr. A. A. Fulzele is the head with Dr. S. K. Giri, Dr. A. M. Sawane, and Ms. S. D. Khalatkar as the faculty members for the senior college. The junior college staff includes Dr. S. S. Gunjekar and Dr. V. R. Ramgunde. Three teachers on fixed-pay basis and four support staff members are appointed in the department.

The staff is actively involved in teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and research. Research projects sanctioned by various agencies have been completed by the staff. The department has two well-equipped laboratories with ICT facility, departmental library, museum, herbarium, botanical garden and shade house. Teaching aids in the form of chalk and board, white boards, charts, models, PowerPoint presentations, videos are exercised in the department.

The staff employ ICT tools for enhancing the receptivity of the students. Learning management systems, like MOODLE, and Google classroom are industriously brought to use for the students’ benefit.

Infrastructure facilities:

The departmental library is enriched with more than 200 books which include reference books, text books, manuals, Floras, book series Wealth of India, etc. The department boasts of a museum with rich and diverse collection of all plant groups, collected over the last 40 years during excursions. Herbaria of Angiosperm families and plant pathology made by the students under the guidance of students are available in the department. A botanical garden with collection of ferns, gymnosperms, hydrophytes and other angiosperms has been developed. Bryophytes, ferns, gymnosperms, medicinal plants and other sensitive plants are provided a protective environment in the shade house. Tanks for growing algae and hydrophytes have been developed.

The department receives the fund for development from general grant of UGC and from research fund received from sanctioning agencies.

Support Staff:

Name	Designation	Contact Number
D. G. Dharphode	Laboratory Attendant	9028229616
Gopal Dhone	Laboratory Attendant	9970935878
Swati Y. Algiwale	Laboratory Attendant	7387674195

Courses offered by the department:

• At
  the undergraduate level, Botany is offered as one of the subjects in
  combination with Chemistry, Zoology, Geology, and Industrial Chemistry.
• Post-graduation
  in Botany was started from the session 2015-16. The specialization offered at
  M.Sc. is Applied Mycology and Plant Pathology.
• Short
  term certificate course on Mushroom Cultivation is offered to the B.Sc.
  semester I students.

Research Activities:

Names of Recognized guides	Specialization	No. of Ph.D. students
Dr. A. A. Fulzele	Mycology	03
Dr. S. K. Giri	Aeromycology	–
Dr. A. M. Sawane	Palynology, Aerobiology	–

Research Projects:

The faculty members have received funding under research projects from funding agencies like UGC and BARC, DAE, Govt. of India. In total five minor and major projects have been successfully completed by the faculty members of the department.

Facilities offered by the department:

• The
  following instruments are available in the department:

Cooling Centrifuge, Deep freezer, analytical balances, Laminar Airflow Chamber, UV-Visible spectrophotometer, Electrophoresis Units, HPLC, Distillation units, Rotary shaker, BOD incubator, and research microscopes.

• A well set Mycology
  laboratory is available.
• Consultation
  facility for identification of fungi is available.

Conferences/ workshops/ seminars organized:

Upcoming National Seminar: 21 September 2024

e-Brochure

The following seminars and workshops have been organized by the department:

1. UGC sponsored National Seminar
   on “Recent
   Trends in Bio-Geo Sciences” on 14^th October 2010.
2. UGC
   Funded Motivational Workshop (For
   Teachers and Students) on “Techniques
   in Taxonomy: Classical to Molecular Approach” from 30^th to
   31^st March 2012.
3. UGC sponsored National Seminar on “Modern Tool and Techniques in
   Plant Sciences” on 14^thMarch 2015.

For the students, following intercollegiate competitions have been organized:

1. Inter-collegiate
   Seminar Competition in association with Indian Science Congress Association
   (Nagpur Chapter) on 26^th February 2013.
2. Inter-collegiate
   Science Model & Poster Competition for UG and PG students on 16^th
   January 2019.

Botanical society and activities conducted under the aegis of the society.

• The office bearers of the Botanical
  Society are selected for every academic session. They are generally selected on
  the basis of merit and performance in other curricular activities.
• Under the aegis of Botanical Society,
  guest lectures by eminent speakers and subject experts, various competitions,
  science exhibitions, intercollegiate activities (like seminar competitions,
  poster competitions, etc.), celebration of National Science Day, etc. are
  organized every year.
• For getting in depth knowledge of
  plants in their natural habitat, botanical excursions are a regular feature for
  UG and PG students. One day excursions to nearby areas and long tours to
  Pachmarhi, Kodaikanal as well as Dehradun and Mussoorie, have been organized.
  For knowledge about current research, visits to research laboratories for
  students are arranged.

Student Achievements:

• Ms.
  Harsha Mankar, M.Sc. Botany student qualified MH-SET (State Eligibility Test)
  for Lectureship in June 2019.
• Ms.
  Punam Bajanghate, M.Sc. Botany student received 2^nd prize in Poster
  Presentation at National Conference on “Current Trends and Future Prospects in
  Fungal Biotechnology” organized by Institute of Science, Mumbai on February 8^th
  and 9^th, 2019.
• Ms.
  Apeksha Kothe was awarded Jubulpore Horticulture Show Prize by R. T. M. Nagpur University
  for obtaining highest marks in Botany in B.Sc. first year examination of 2017
  at 105^th Convocation on 24^th March, 2018.
• Ms.
  Sayali Muley, B.Sc. Semester VI student received 3^rd prize in
  Instinct – 2018, Interuniversity Seminar Competition at J. B. Science College,
  Wardha on 12^th March, 2018.
• Ms.
  Snehal Chimurkar, M.Sc. Semester IV student and Ms. Kartiki Kawale secured 1^st
  rank in Poster Competition in State Level Seminar on “Current Scenario of
  Botanical Research” organized by Department of Botany, Shri Shivaji College of
  Arts, Commerce and Science, Akola on 2^nd February, 2018.

Student activity

The students are working on developing an e-flora of Nagpur region. The website is dynamic. You can access the website by clicking on ‘e-flora’ below.

e-flora