Dr. Md. Harunor Rashid Khan

Md. Harunor Rashid Khan is the only son of Mr. Abdul Kader and Mrs. H. Khatoon, was born on December 31, 1962 in the Village & PO: Bilbilash, Upazila: Bauphal, District: Patuakhali. Mr. Khan has obtained his B.Sc. (Hons: 1^st class 2^nd) and M.Sc. (Thesis: 1^st class 1^st) degrees from the Department of Soil Science, Univ. of Dhaka (DU). Mr. Khan has scholarly awarded his PhD from Okayama Univ. (OU), Japan in March 1994 and subsequently availed the Alexander von Humboldt (AvH) Post-doctoral fellowships at Kiel Univ. (KU) in FR-Germany during 1994-96, 98-99 & 2001. He was also offered (1997-99) the Australian VC-Postdoc Award at UNSW.

Services:

Mr. Khan has been selected as a Lecturer in the Department of Soil Science, DU 1990 but joined in the said Dept. as an Assistant Prof. in 1997. Dr. Khan was an Associate Prof. in the Dept. of Environmental Management Engineering, Faculty of Env. Sci. & Tech., OU during 2005-08. He has also served as a Guest Teacher in the Dept. of Civil Engr. and Rural Management, Faculty of Agric., OU. Dr. Khan has been served as an Adjunct Prof. in the Institute for Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, Univ. of Kiel during his post-doctoral periods. Dr. Khan has also been served as a member of the working group of the ‘Soil Ecology and Environment’ Headed by Em Prof. Dr. Dr.hc H.-P. Blume and Prof. Dr. Franciscus Colijn.

Prof. Khan was the Founder Vice-Chancellor of the University of Barisal. Prof. Khan has also been the Founder Dean of 6 faculties, Founder Chairman of 18 Departments in the BU, Founder of Bangabandhu Chair, Bangabandhu Cell and Freedom Fighters’ Corner in the BU and the part-time member (Dec.’13-April’15) of the UGC of Bangladesh during his successful tenure in the BU. Dr. Khan is the Founder President of Baitun Noor Jam-e-Mosque (1992) and the founder of the ‘First Vice-Chancellor Trust’ in BU (worth about 0.22 M US $, Established in April’15) for providing scholarships to the students, teachers and welfare of the Officers and Staff of the BU.

Specialization and major fields of researches:

Prof. Khan has specialization on the processes of development, reclamation and management of ecosystems of saline and acid sulfate soils. His major fields of researches are - Reclamation and Improvement of Soil Health, Soil Bio-technology and Lithosphere management, Emissions of trace gases and global climate change, Phytoremediation, Phytoextraction and Purification of industrial wastes, Soil Ecology and Environment, Agro-ecosystems and their sustainable management; C-N sequestration and Soil-Plant-Air-Water-Continuum Quality; Climate Change, Mitigation and Adaptation.

Research Activities:

Prof. Khan has done plenty of national (BARC, BWDB, DU, UGC, MOSICT, MOST, MOEFCC) and international (CIDA, WB, UNESCO, AvH, DAAD, VW-Foundation, KU-Germany, OU-Japan, NSWU-Australia, McGill-Canada, Ohio State Univ.-USA) researches, which made significant contributions to the body of knowledge. Dr. Khan has conducted several pieces of fundamental researches during his PhD on the reclamation and management of problem soils. During his post-doc. (AvH) fellowships, he has been studied on the ecology, ecosystems and environment of salt-affected coastal areas through the investigations on the emissions and concentrations of trace gases, nutrients and microbial biomass dynamics in coastal arable and natural soils under variable climate and management practices. His scientific achievements include (i) Identified reclamation techniques (which awarded gold medal) for the problem soils which save aquatic lives and environments, (ii) Made an effective and cheap Gas sampler (which awarded ‘The AvH distinguished Scientist Recognition), (iii) Prepared effective and economic Natural Sand-Gravity-Filter, (iv) Identified Sulfidic materials as Bio-fertilizers (which assists him to have offered for the Australian VC-Postdoc Award, UNSW), (v) Identified locally available indigenous organic materials/amendments, such as, Vermicompost, Rice straw compost, Trichocompost, Rice straw, Rice hull, Saw dust, Saw dust compost, Rice husk ash, Mustard meal, Mustard straw biochar, Oil cake, Poultry manure, Burned poultry litters and Poultry manure biochar, etc. under increased soil temperature of 2 to 4°C and moisture levels at the nine AEZs of Bangladesh considering the improvement soil health, reclamation and management of marginal, acid and calcareous -soils as well as carbon captures which help in the reduction of Global Warming (GW) and of negative impacts of Climate Change (Project done with the financial supports of about 0.33 M US $ from the Climate Change Trust Fund), (vi) Identified some salt-tolerant indigenous and exotic Rice, Sunflower, Maize, Chilli, Brinjal -varieties and (vii) Introduced Tea and Coffee in flat plain lands, and also addressed (viii) Eco-friendly printing (1991-‘96) approaches to reduce the use of resources and GW.

Illustrious national/international research projects:

Prof. Khan has been the PD/PI/SPM and completed the following notable international/national research projects and the number research publications from these respective research projects are stated below:

1. Assessment of 292 Remaining Upazilas for the Impacts of Climate Change on Soil Health and Food Security, and Adaptation of Climate-smart Agriculture in Most Adversely Affected Areas of Bangladesh. Funded by the Climate Change Trust Fund (Project ID DU-573; three years: 2019-21; Fund about 0.2 M US $), MoEFCC, GoB. Publications: 9.

2. Assessment of Impacts of Climate Change on Soil Health and Food Security, and Adaptation of Climate-smart Agriculture in Most Adversely Affected Areas of Bangladesh. Funded by the Climate Change Trust Fund (Project ID DU-410; two years: 2017-18: Fund about 0.13 M US $), MoEFCC, GoB. Publications: 7.

3. Multidisciplinary Approaches for Green Transformation and Development of Agriculture in Salt-affected Coastal Soils under Changing Climatic Conditions. Funded by the Ministry of Sci. & Technology, GoB (2015-16). Publications: 8.

4. Integrated approaches for the development of agriculture in the coastal environments of Bangladesh. Funded by the UNESCO, BNCU, Dhaka, Bangladesh (2011-2012). Publications: 8.

5. Sustainable Management Strategies for Strengthening the Food Security in Different Hot-spots of Salt-affected Coastal Soils of Bangladesh. Funded by the Ministry of Science and Information & communication Technology, Govt of Bangladesh (2010-11). Publications: 8.

6. Studies on element dynamics and processes in different acidity levels of acid sulfate soil/drainage water ecosystems and their sustainable management (1998-2002), financed by the German Govt. Institutions (Alexander Von Humboldt –AvH & VW foundations). The total grant of the project was about US $ 0.16 M. Two students were awarded PhD (March, 2005) and 12 students obtained their MS (thesis) degrees (1998-2002) by doing researches on the above-mentioned project. Publications: 32

7. Impacts of Brick kiln on soil degradation and environmental pollution (Coordinated Research Project; funded by the MOISICT, Govt. of Bangladesh, 1997-98). Publications: 8 published.

8. Salt-affected Ecosystems of North Sea Coast of North Germany (1994-1996): Publications: 11

9. Reclamation and management of acid sulfate soils (World Bank Project, 1990): Publications: 14

10. Potassium studies in soils and crops of Bangladesh (CIDA Project, 1988-89): Publications: 3

11. Saline water irrigation and crop production (World Bank Project, 1985 to 1987): Publications: 12

Members in the National and International Organizations:

Prof. Khan has been serving in several organizations, such as, a Senate and Syndicate Member of DU, Syndicate Member of NU, GB Chairman of Bangladesh Dental College, Dhanmondi, Dhaka (2^nd term running); Univ. Women Federation College, Dhanmondi, Dhaka (running) and Sheikh Burhan Uddin Post Graduate College, Najimuddin road, Dhaka (2 terms finished); Running GB member of BCSIR and Monno Medical College, Maniqgonj. Dr. Khan has also served as a Senior House Tutor of F.H. Hall; Student Adviser of SWED-DU; Elected Vice President of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh (2018-2019); Member of the selection committee of the UNESCO-China MS and PhD Scholarships (2009-10); External Member of MS & M Phil Exams, IWFM, BUET (2006-2010). Prof. Khan was the Treasurer of EDAPHOS (Ex-Student Association of Soil Science and SWED-DU) for the period of 2004 to 2012. He has been the member of the National Expert Committee for Tipai Muk Dam (since 2009); ‘Bangabandhu Krishi Padak’ selection committee of Bangladesh since 2019 and Syndicate nominee in the different selection committees of DU, CU, KU, BU, NSTU, JSTU and NU, etc. He has also been rendering consultancy and advisory services to many national, international organizations and served notably in many committees/teams/bodies in various organizations.

Prof. Khan was the Chief Editor of the Barisal University Journal, Barisal, Bangladesh (2014-15). He has been the member of Editorial boards of several reputed journals and a series of books edited by TV Duggan and CA Brebbia, Publ. CMC-UK since1996. Currently, Editor of the National Univ. Journal of Science since 2018; Chairman of the Editorial Board of the J. Asiatic Soc. Bangladesh (2018-19) and Editors of several books, such as, i) Fundamentals of Environmental Sciences, ii) Climate Change, Mitigation and Adaptation, iii) Department of Soil, Water and Environment towards Nation Building.

Prof. Khan has been the Member of ‘The International Networking in Environment Engineering Education, UK; American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).; Japanese Society of Soil Science; German Soil Science Society; Indian Society of Soil Science; Humboldt (AvH) Club in Bangladesh; DAAD (German Society of Foreign Academics); Japan-Bangladesh Friendship Association; Bangladesh Association for Advancement of Science (BAAS) and Bangladesh Soil Science Society. Dr. Khan has been the Life member of Indian Society of Salinity Res. Scientists, Jodhpur (Rajasthan); Soil Science Ex-Student Association – EDAPHOS; Asiatic Society of Bangladesh; SWED DU Trust and Founder President of the ‘Soil-1983’ (a cooperative society of 147 Soil Scientists who have obtained their M. Sc. Degree from the Dept. of Soil Science in the Academic Session of 1982-83) since 1997.

Received Awards:

Prof. Khan has received several awards. Notable among them are the AvH distinguished Scientist Recognition; Ibrahim Memorial Gold Medal 2008 for outstanding research works in his own field; Socrates Award 2014 in the field of ‘Science and Education’ in recognition for the ‘Innovative Models of Development’ (Oxford, UK). Prof. Khan has also received an offer for ‘the AvH 250^th Anniversary Professor Awards’ 2019. Prof. Khan has also been awarded the “Honor of Valiant Son of Soil Science for the year 2012 by the EDAOHOS in recognition to his contribution towards the promotion of research in Soil Science of Bangladesh to the World.

Research Collaborations:

Prof. Khan has Research Collaborations with Okayama Univ., Japan since 1991; McGill University, Canada (MS Program, since 2009); NSWU, Australia (MS and PhD, since 2009) and research fellow exchange among the said universities and Ohio State Univ., USA, HKBU of Hong Kong, Univ. of Kiel, Germany, since 1994. Prof. Khan has participated and presented papers in 21 International Conferences and visited 17 countries, such as, Japan, Germany, France, Luxemburg, Belgium, Netherlands, Thailand, UK, Hong Kong, India, China, Australia, Malaysia, USA, Canada, Singapore and Saudi Arabia.

Articles and Books:

Prof. Khan has 151 (35 Single author, 114 First author) research articles of which more than hundred were published in the international reputed journals. Some Chapters/Articles are in the Books. A few of these are (i) Environmental Engineering Education and Training 1996, TV Duggan and CA Brebbia (Editors), Publ. CMC-UK Publ. ISBN 1-85312-393-5; (ii) Towards Sustainable Land Use (Vol I-II) 1998, H.-P. Blume et al. (Editors), Advances in Geoecology 31, Publ. IUSS, ISBN 3-923381-42-5; (iii) The Restoration and Management of Derelict Land – Modern Approaches 2002, MH Wang and AD Bradshaw (Editors), Publ. World Sci. Publ. Co., ISBN9812382534; (iv) Bangladesh Environment (Vol I & II) Ahmed et al. (Editors), Publ. BAPA, ISBN 984-32-0443-3; (v) Remediation and Management of Degraded Lands 20000, A. Brion and RW Bell (Editors). Publ. Promaco Convention Pty Ltd., Australia. ISBN 1 86308 088 0. Prof. Khan was the principal supervisor of 73 MS and 12 PhDs under DAAD/Monbusho scholarships and 7 in DU till 2020.

Others activities:

Prof. Khan has been received the donation of equipment as an AvH Fellow which included an AAS, Ion meter, Incubator, laptops, Laser Printer, Three digits Balance during 1998 from the AvH Foundation and also received a Gas Chromatograph from Kiel Univ., Germany during 2001. Dr. Khan has earned foreign currency of about 5 lakhs US $, of which 2.2 lakhs during his PhD and Post-doctoral fellowships and 2.8 lakhs as salary, bonuses & allowances from Okayama Univ. as a faculty. Prof. Khan has contributions to the extension of net house building at the premises of the SWED-DU and to the renovation of a laboratory-16, where a new AAS and other equipment’s were installed during 2017-2020. Dr. Khan has significant contribution to the renaming of the ‘Department of Soil Science’ as ‘Department of Soil, Water and Environment’ and introduced fourteen new courses till 2020, such as, a. Introduction to Environmental Sciences, b. Ecology, c. Environmental Quality, d. Water treatment Technologies, e. Climate change, mitigation and adaptation in B.Sc. (Hons.) level; f. Land Evaluation, g. Environmental Law, h. Environmental Microbiology, i. Coastal Zone Management, j. Soil Ecology, k. Soil Technology; l. Environmental Impact Assessment, m. Environmental Chemistry and n. Agricultural Technologies and Impacts on Ecosystem Services, in M.S., M.Phil., and Ph.D. levels in the Dept. of Soil, Water and Env., DU. Prof. Khan has been taking the classes on the courses of Introduction to Environmental Sciences, Ecology, Soil Ecology, Environmental Quality, Soil Technology, Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrition, Climate Change, Mitigation and Adaptation, and Agricultural Technologies and Impacts on Ecosystem Services, in B.S. (Hons.), M.S. and Ph.D. levels.

Dr. Khan has got married with Khawaja Farida Yasmin (B.Sc. Hons. & M.Sc. in Geography, DU) and blessed with a daughter Tamara Faranaz Ena (Engr.: MS, EEE, DU and Lecturer since 2020, MMES) and a son Md. Reshad Bin Harun (BS Hons.: Bio-Med-Engr.; Boston, USA; currently serving as a Software Engr. since 2019, GenoSpace, Boston, USA).