Environmental Science is a systematic understanding about living organisms, non – living things and the inter-relationship among them. It integrates the knowledge of physical, chemical and biological sciences along with atmospheric sciences. In recent years, environmental science and management has emerged as an important discipline that can offer solutions to many environmental problems and also, opens up a variety of employment options. In fact, there is a need for trained manpower at every level to deal with important issues like safe and clean drinking water, hygienic living condition, clean air, fertile land, healthy food and sustainable development. The environmental protection, management and environmental legislation are emerging as new career opportunities. Since, the pollution control laws becoming more stringent, industries need environment experts to manage and control pollution. Furthermore, environmental experts are now in great demand in industries for adopting green technologies to reduce pollution and cut down the costs of the effluent. Therefore, Jamia Millia Islamia has established the Department of Environmental Science in the year of 2020. The department offers Master and PhD programmes in Environmental Science. The M.Sc. (Environmental Science and Management) is supported with strong doctoral programme in all major specializations of Environmental Science.
The Department is focused on teaching and research, dealing with Environmental Issues important for the conservation of Natural Resources, Geo-hazards, Environmental Degradation and the Biodiversity. The development of expertise in the areas of Water Pollution and its management, Environmental Monitoring, Air and Noise Pollution and their Management, Environmental Impact Assessment, Environment Geoscience, Climate Change and Environmental Legislation. The major goal of the Department to produce environmental professionals to work in a wide variety of positions for environmental consulting firms, pollution control boards, environmental laboratories, water and wastewater treatment facilities, pollution control divisions of industries, research industries such as Central Drug Research Institute, Central Institute for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Industrial Toxicology Research Centre, National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Environment Protection and Training Research Institute and Tata Energy Research Institute. The P.G. Degree holders of the Department may also be able to develop their own laboratories for analytical work in non-governmental sectors. In addition, environmental science and management has become an important part of urban planning including the construction of houses, sanitation, water management and waste disposal.
The research areas which are in progress in the Department are: (a) Sustainable development, (b) Effluent treatment, (c) Urban hydrology, (d) Environmental Biotechnology, (e) Environmental Health, (f) Heavy Metal toxicity, (g) Climate Change, (h) Environmental Pollution, (i) Hydro-geochemistry, (j) Process Optimization and (k) Material Synthesize and Characterization.