Ms. Rizana Salim is pursuing her Ph.D. from the Aerosol group, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai under the guidance of Prof. Sachin S Gunthe. She completed her B.Tech. in civil engineering from the Royal College of Engineering and Technology, Kerala, and M.Tech. from the National Institute of Technology, Karnataka, in remote sensing and GIS. At present, her research focuses on experimental and modelling studies to investigate the role of atmospheric aerosols, as physiological sources of reactive oxygen and chlorine species, in producing oxidative stress in the lungs and the resulting health impacts.
Ms. Salim’s upbringing in the mountains made her closely connected to nature and instilled in her a strong belief that we always get what we give. Hence, she believes it is an individual’s responsibility to gift the environment a token of gratitude. Her subject of research is her token of gratitude for the air we breathe. She loves to paint, read and travel.
As a Fulbright-Kalam Climate fellow, Ms. Salim is doing her experimental work at the University of California, Irvine under the guidance of Prof. Manabu Shiraiwa. Ms. Salim is conducting detailed analysis and advanced research using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrometer and high-resolution mass spectrometer (HRMS) and other experimental methods for the detection and quantification of radical species and to understand the toxicity and oxidative potential of these radicals.