View source for Kamrun Nahar

{{short description|Bangladeshi soil scientist and environmentalist}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Kamrun Nahar
| native_name       = কামরুন নাহার
| native_name_lang  = bn
| image             =
| image_size        =
| alt               =
| caption           = Speaking at a meeting at [[Rajshahi]]
| birth_date        =
| birth_place       = [[Dhaka|Dacca]], [[East Pakistan]]
| death_date        = <!-- {{Death date and age|df=yes|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date then birth date) -->
| death_place       =
| citizenship       =
| nationality       = Bangladeshi
| fields            = [[Soil science]]<br />[[Agronomy]]
| workplaces        = [[Independent University, Bangladesh]]<br />[[BRAC University]]<br />[[North South University]]<br />[[Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University]]<br />[[Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research]]<br />[[Dhaka University]]<br />[[University of Florida]]<br />[[Washington State University]]
| alma_mater        = [[Eden Girls' College, Bangladesh|Eden College]]<br />[[University of Dacca]]<br />[[University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna]]
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Ralph Gretzmacher]]
| academic_advisors = [[S.M. Ullah]]
| doctoral_students =
| notable_students  =
| known_for         = [[Soil chemistry]]<br />[[Climate change]]<br />[[Biofuel]]
| author_abbrev_bot =
| author_abbrev_zoo =
| thesis_title = Einfluss von Wasserstress auf Nährstoffaufnahme, Ertrag und Fruchtqualität von Tomaten (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) unter subtropischen Bedingungen
| thesis_year = 2000
| thesis_url = https://diebodenkultur.boku.ac.at/volltexte/band-53/heft-1/nahar.pdf
| influences        =
| influenced        =
| awards            =
| signature         =
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| website = {{URL|kamrunnahar.com/}}
| spouse            =
}}
'''Kamrun Nahar''' is a Bangladeshi [[soil scientist]] and environmentalist. A prominent [[biofuels]] researcher from Bangladesh, her research also aimed to lower dependence on [[Petroleum|petroleum based foreign oil]] by producing low [[carbon]] and [[sulphur]] emitting biofuels from the [[Second generation biofuels|second generation energy crops]] cultivated in the unused wastelands of Bangladesh for use in home generators to supplement power.<ref name=dailystar>{{cite news |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/campus/2011/07/03/snap.htm |title=BGBC Experts Discuss Sustainability at AIUB |newspaper=[[The Daily Star (Bangladesh)|The Daily Star]] |date=17 July 2011 |access-date=5 January 2011}}</ref><ref name=americanintl>{{cite news |url=http://www.aiub.edu/HtmlViewer2.aspx?EventsID=499 |title=BGBC Experts Discuss Sustainability at Architecture Department of AIUB |publisher=[[American International University-Bangladesh|AIUB News Bulletin]] |author=Dept. of Architecture |date=6 July 2011 |access-date=31 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120622025423/http://www.aiub.edu/HtmlViewer2.aspx?EventsID=499 |archive-date=22 June 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

An elected member of the [[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]], she was also the former secretary of the Institute of Environmental Professionals – Bangladesh in 2003. She is an [[associate professor]] of [[Environmental science|environmental science and management]] at [[North South University]] and held similar teaching positions at [[BRAC University]] and at [[Independent University, Bangladesh]], since 2000.<ref name="northsouth.edu">{{cite web |url=http://www.northsouth.edu/assets/files/Resume_K.Nahar_2016(2).pdf |title=Kamrun Nahar, PhD |website=North South University}}</ref>

==Education==
She was born in 1961 to the [[Munshibari family of Comilla]], where author [[Saleh Uddin]] was her older brother. She is the sister-in-law of [[Raihanul Abedin]]. Upon graduation from [[Eden Girls' College, Bangladesh|Eden College]], she attended the [[University of Dhaka]]'s Department of Soil, Water and Environment in 1977. In 1978, she studied [[soil chemistry]] under [[Iajuddin Ahmed]]. She graduated with a [[Bachelor of Science|BS]] degree in [[soil science]] in 1981 and an [[Master of Science|MS]] degree in soil chemistry in 1982. She was married to [[Muhammad Shahid Sarwar]] in 1981. The same year she was awarded the [[First Class Honours#First-class honours|First Class Honours Award]] by the [[Dhaka Education Board]].<ref name="northsouth.edu"/>

In 1997, she traveled to Europe to attend the Department of Applied Plant Sciences and Plant Biotechnology for a PhD at the [[University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna]] in Austria (Institut f. Pflanzenzuchtung u. Pflanzenbau Uni. F. Bodenkultur Wien, Osterreich) as an [[:de: Österreichische Austauschdienst-Gesellschaft|Austrian Academic Exchange Fellow]]. She has also been a visiting scholar at the [[University of Florida]] and [[Washington State University]] in the United States.<ref>[http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2473-6085 Kamrun Nahar] at [[ORCID]]</ref>

==Background==
Nahar first proposed to cultivate a [[Non-food crop|non-food]] [[energy crops|bioenergy crop]], ''[[Jatropha curcas]]'' L. in Bangladesh, as it did not need [[arable land]] and does not compete with food. Her work focused on the increasing [[water scarcity|water deficit]] conditions due to global [[climate change]] and its relationship to [[Crop yield|fruit yield]], particularly in combating [[world hunger]]. Her publications also center around [[bioenergy]] and food production in both the cyclical water deficit lands and the highly [[Floods in Bangladesh|flooded plains of Bangladesh]].<ref>DESM News (14 March 2012) [http://www.desmnsu.org/index.php/en/component/content/article/1-latest-news/67-dr-kamrun-nahar-has-joined-desm-as-an-assistant-professor Dr. Kamrun Nahar has joined DESM as an assistant professor] [[North South University]]</ref> Emphasizing land use patterns and possible cultivation areas of Bangladesh, she stressed the uses and socioeconomic benefits of the plant, citing minimal production costs and ease for the production of [[biodiesel]] and other useful byproducts compared to conventional fossil fuel. [[Carbon sequestration]] was also implied in the national scheme.<ref>{{Citation |first=Kamrun |last=Nahar |author-link=Kamrun Nahar |title=Cultivation of Jatropha curcas L. in Bangladesh: A Sustainable Solution to the Energy, Environmental and Socioeconomic Crisis |place=[[Saarbrücken]], Germany |publisher=[[VDM Publishing|Verlag Dr Müller Publishers]] |year=2011 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TlHXXwAACAAJ |isbn=978-3639365801}}</ref><ref name="Nahar">Nahar, K. and Ozores-Hampton, M. (2011). [http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hs1193 Jatropha: An Alternative Substitute to Fossil Fuel].([http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/HS/HS119300.pdf IFAS Publication Number HS1193]). Gainesville: [[University of Florida]], [[Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences]]. Retrieved (12-17-1989).</ref>

===Soil fertility and water deficiency===
In the early 1980s, Nahar began analysing the soils of different areas of the country. Twenty soil samples belonging to four pedons from [[Bhola District]] were analysed for their profile [[soil morphology|morphology]], [[particle-size distribution]], and mineral composition in the [[clay]] fraction. Fine to medium-sized [[redoximorphic features|mottles]] with distinct contrast were present in almost all the [[soil horizon|horizons]]. Structural B (cambic) horizon has developed in all the [[pedology|pedons]] where clay content ranged from 17 to 42%. The texture of the soils ranged from [[silt]] [[loam]] to silty clay loam. [[Mica]] and [[kaolinite]] were the two other minerals whose abundance was nearly equal. The occcurrence of small quantities of mica-[[vermiculite]] intergrades and some interstratified clay minerals was suspected. A small portion of [[smectite]]s was considered to be formed authigenically in the soils from [[Bhola (town)|Bhola]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Nahar |first=Kamrun |author-link=Kamrun Nahar |title=A Morphological and clay mineralogical study of some soils from Bhola District in Bangladesh |journal=Dhaka University Studies Part B |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=93–104 |location=[[Dhaka]] |date=July 1989}}</ref>

Later, a total of twenty-one soil samples belonging to five representative [[soil series]] were collected on a horizon basis from the three distinct vegetative zones of Raojan Rubber Garden, [[Chittagong]] and analysed for their different properties. The different horizons of the profiles studied were truly pedogenetic. Sand was the dominant fraction of the soil, which might indicate that the parent materials were [[arenaceous]] in nature. The texture of the soil ranged from loamy sand to sandy loam at the surface and sandy loam to sandy clay loam at the subsurface. The sand/silt ratio indicated that the studied profiles did not form on uniform [[parent material]]s. Moisture percentage of air dry soils ranged from 0.3 to 2.6. A positive correlation existed between percent clay and [[hygroscopic]] moisture of the soils.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Nahar |first=Kamrun |author-link=Kamrun Nahar |title=A Study of some morphological and physical properties of soils from Raojan Rubber Plantation of Chittagong |journal=Journal of Soil Science |volume=24 |issue=1&2 |pages=31–39 |year=1993}}</ref>

===Drought-resistant plants and crop yield===
Since then, Nahar's research has focused on increasing water deficit conditions due to global climate change and its relationship to fruit yield, particularly in combating world hunger. Her publications also center around bioenergy and food production in both the cyclical water deficit lands and the highly flooded plains of Bangladesh. The influence of water stress on tomato plants and fruit quality was investigated in a pot experiment. The uptake of [[nitrogen]], [[sodium]], [[potassium]], [[sulphur]], [[calcium]] and [[magnesium]] was significantly reduced by water stress in the plants. Significant increases in glucose, fructose, sucrose in fruits and proline content in leaves showed some tendency of this crop to adjust osmotically to water stress. Water stress increased the sugar and acid contents (ascorbic, malic and citric acid) of the tomato fruits and thus improved the fruit quality.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Nahar |first=Kamrun |author-link=Kamrun Nahar |author2=Ralph Gretzmacher |title=Effect of water stress on nutrient uptake, yield and quality of tomato (L.e) under subtropical conditions |journal=Die Bodenkultur |volume=53 |issue=1 |pages=45–51 |year=2002 |url=http://www.boku.ac.at/diebodenkultur/volltexte/band-53/heft-1/nahar.pdf |author2-link=Ralph Gretzmacher}}</ref> This study investigates the effects of water stress on moisture content distribution at different soil layers (pot) and on the morphological characters of tomato plants. Moisture content distribution was higher at the surface and decreased with increasing stress at all growth stages. Yield and related morphological characters responded better at certain of the field capacity compared when with other treatments.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Nahar |first=Kamrun |author-link=Kamrun Nahar |author2=[[Ralph Gretzmacher]] & [[S.M. Ullah]] |title=Effect of water stress on moisture content distribution in soil and morphological characters of two tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) cultivars |journal=Bangladesh Journal of Scientific Research |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=677–682 |year=2011 |issn=2070-0237 |doi=10.3329/jsr.v3i3.7000 |doi-access=free}}</ref> A study was conducted in the experimental field of [[Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University]] in [[Dhaka]], [[Bangladesh]], to study the effect of water stress on fruit quality and osmotic adjustment in different types. The plants had a tendency to adjust against a drop in potential in the soil by producing organic solutes such as [[glucose]], [[fructose]], [[sucrose]] and [[proline]]. The quality of fruits was improved as a result of the synthesis of [[ascorbic acid]], [[citric acid]] and [[malic acid]]. No physical damage due to stress was observed in fruits, which were over 90% red.{{Citation needed|date=December 2019|reason=removed citation to predatory publisher content}}  Another such test conducted studied the effect of water stress on the height, dry matter and yield of a few cultivars where it was noticed that the yield was reduced due to stress but no significant difference was observed.

===Second-generation bioenergy crops===
Nahar also worked on energy crops, especially their adaptability in different [[soil]] types of Bangladesh, especially wastelands choosing [[Second generation biofuels|second generation energy crops]] not in high demand in the global [[Food marketing|food market]] and thus has little impact on [[2007–2008 world food price crisis|food prices]] and [[food security]] thereby negating the [[Food vs. fuel|food-fuel dilemma]]. She explored the potential of biofuel production on a limited land space for sustaining a growing population like Bangladesh. With rapidly growing urban and national [[Population growth|population growth rate]], Bangladesh's growing demand for [[Energy in Bangladesh|energy]] with urban expansion has led to [[deforestation]] and a steady loss of arable lands, which may result in future food shortages, where she proposes a simple required [[land use]] per capita model {{#tag:ref|
[[Energy content of biofuel|<math>\alpha_{fuel}</math>]], <math>P_{total}</math> is the total number of people using this source of energy, <math>X_{vi}</math> is the average driving distance per vehicle and:<math>n_{vi}</math> is the total distance to be traveled, is the average [[miles per gallon|<math>M_{vi}</math>]], hence, <math> LU_{req, fuel-1}={1 \over C_y}.{\alpha_{fuel} \over P_{total}}.\sum_{i=1}^{n}\left[
 \frac{\left(X_{vi}\right) \times n_{vi}}{M_{vi}}
 \right]</math>|group=note}}
for establishing a relationship between the [[biomass]] production,{{#tag:ref|Where the current planned theoretical production is given by, <math> P_{theo,c}=A_{c,t} \times C_y \times h_i</math> and optimal production by <math>
P_{max,c}=C_{MP,C} \times h_i</math>; with [[area|<math>A_{c,t}</math>]], [[crop yield|<math>C_y</math>]], [[Capacity utilization|<math>C_{MP,C}</math>]] and [[energy crops|<math>h_i</math>]]; where <math> C_y=\beta_{xy} \times \rho_{xy} \times \epsilon_{f}</math>

with ''[[Productivity (ecology)|<math>\beta_{xy}</math>]]'', ''[[percentage yield|<math>\rho_{xy}</math>]]'' (after [[Cellulosic ethanol#Pretreatment|pretreatment conversion]]) and [[biofuel|<math>\epsilon_{f}</math>]].|group=note}} associated crop yields, the biomass to biofuel conversion methods and the overall fuel demand, as a plan to meet the national energy and habitable land demands while considering the looming environmental effects related to energy usage.

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Climate change in Bangladesh]]
* [[Sustainable biofuel]]
* [[Energy crop]]
* [[Kaberi Gayen]]
* [[Xerophyte|Drought Resistant Plant]] (Xerophyte)
* [[Food vs. fuel]] Dilemma
* [[Floods in Bangladesh]]
{{div col end}}

==Sources==
;Notes
{{reflist|group=note}}

;References
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{official website|http://kamrunnahar.com}}
* {{google scholar id|mskLDG4AAAAJ}}
* [http://www.northsouth.edu/faculty-members/shls/esm/nahar.kamrun.html Kamrun Nahar Faculty Biography] at [[North South University]]
* [http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hs1193 Kamrun Nahar: Biofuel Article] at [[Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences]], The [[University of Florida]]
* [http://www.mendeley.com/research/sweet-sorghum-alternative-feedstock-bioethanol/ Kamrun Nahar: Bioethanol] at [[Mendeley]]
* [http://archive.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=270105 Kamrun Nahar: Prospect for second generation biofuel crops] ''Green Energy Option'' and [http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/sustainable-biogas-from-water-hyacinth/ Sustainable biogas from water-hyacinth] at the ''[[The Daily Star (Bangladesh)|Daily Star]]''
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20160130161219/http://www.observerbd.com/2016/01/30/133606.php Kamrun Nahar: Combating Climate Change Climate change adaptation, mitigation and biofuel prospects in Bangladesh] at ''[[The Daily Observer]]''
** [http://daily-sun.com/index.php?view=details&archiev=yes&arch_date=26-08-2012&type=daily-sun-news&pub_no=242&cat_id=1&menu_id=19&news_type_id=1&news_id=49922 Brief article] on the Biofuel research of Nahar published by the ''Daily Sun''
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20091217134954/http://www.doaj.org/doaj?func=abstract Kamrun Nahar: Biodiesel Transesterification] at [[DOAJ]]
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nahar, Kamrun}}
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Bangladeshi climate activists]]
[[Category:Agronomists]]
[[Category:Bangladeshi environmentalists]]
[[Category:Bangladeshi scientists]]
[[Category:People associated with renewable energy]]
[[Category:Climate change in Bangladesh]]
[[Category:Bangladeshi soil scientists]]
[[Category:University of Dhaka alumni]]
[[Category:Eden Mohila College alumni]]
[[Category:Bengali scientists]]