Ambi: Started

2026-04-12T00:41:08Z

Started

New page

{{Short description|Indian geophysicist and seismologist}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix =
| honorific_suffix =
| name = Sankar Kumar Nath
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| title = [[Vice Chancellor]] of [[University of Burdwan]]
| term_start = 7 December 2024
| term_end =
| predecessor = Goutam Chandra
| successor =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1960|1|3}}
| birth_place = [[West Bengal]], India
| death_date =
| death_place =
| death_cause =
| relatives = {{Infobox scientist
| embed = yes
| fields = {{ublist | [[Climatology]] | [[Atmospheric model]]ing }}
| workplaces = {{ublist | [[University of Burdwan]] | [[IIT Kharagpur]] | Indicos Computer Services | [[Oil India]] | Computech Ispat | [[University of Alaska Fairbanks]]}}
| alma_mater = {{ublist | [[IIT Kharagpur]] | [[Geophysical Institute]] }}
| doctoral_advisor = Niren N. Biswas
| academic_advisors =
| doctoral_students =
| notable_students =
| known_for = Geotomographical studies
| author_abbrev_bot =
| author_abbrev_zoo =
| awards = {{ublist | 1999 [[Ministry of Mines (India)|MoM]] National Mineral Award | 2002 [[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize|S. S. Bhatnagar Prize]] | 2003 [[India International Friendship Society|IIFS]] Bharat Jyoti Award | 2004 SGAT Award of Excellence | 2004 [[University Grants Commission (India)|UGC]] Homi J. Bhabha National Award | 2005 Dr. J. Coggin Brown Memorial Gold Medal }}
| signature =
| signature_alt =
| footnotes =
}}
}}

'''Sankar Kumar Nath''' (born 3 January 1960) is an Indian geophysicist, seismologist and the [[vice chancellor]] of the [[University of Burdwan]]. He was previously a senior professor at the [[Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur]].<ref name="Prof Sankar Kumar Nath on Vidwan">{{Cite web |url=https://vidwan.inflibnet.ac.in/profile/43043 |title=Prof Sankar Kumar Nath on Vidwan |date=2016 |publisher=Vidwan}}</ref> He is known for his geotomographical studies <ref name="Brief Profile of the Awardee">{{Cite web |url=http://ssbprize.gov.in/Content/Detail.aspx?AID=215 |title=Brief Profile of the Awardee |date=2016 |publisher=Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize |access-date=November 12, 2016}}</ref> and is an elected fellow of the [[Indian National Academy of Engineering]],<ref name="INAE fellows">{{Cite web |url=https://inae.in/search-of-fellows/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403030936/http://inae.in/search-of-fellows/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2015-04-03 |title=INAE fellows |date=2016 |publisher=Indian National Academy of Engineering }}</ref> [[Indian Geophysical Union]]<ref name="IGU fellows">{{Cite web |url=http://www.igu.in/igu_directory.pdf |title=IGU fellows |date=2016 |publisher=Indian Geophysical Union}}</ref> and the [[National Academy of Sciences, India]],<ref name="NASI fellows">{{Cite web |url=http://www.nasi.org.in/Year%20Book%202015.pdf |title=NASI fellows |date=2016 |publisher=National Academy of Sciences, India |access-date=2017-01-02 |archive-date=2015-08-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150806211716/http://www.nasi.org.in/Year%20Book%202015.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[Council of Scientific and Industrial Research]], the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the [[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology]], one of the highest Indian science awards for his contributions to Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences in 2002.<ref name="View Bhatnagar Awardees">{{cite web | url=http://ssbprize.gov.in/Content/AwardeeList.aspx | title=View Bhatnagar Awardees | publisher=Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize | date=2016 | accessdate=November 12, 2016}}</ref>{{Refn|group=note|Long link - please select award year to see details}}

== Biography ==
[[File:IIT Kharagpur Main Building.JPG|thumb|235px|left|IIT Kharagpur]]
S. K. Nath, born on 3 January 1960 in the Indian state of [[West Bengal]], graduated in geology (BSc hons) in 1979 from the [[Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur]] and completed his master's degree in exploration geophysics from the same institution in 1981, passing both the examinations with first rank; his thesis for the master's degree earned him a Silver Medal for the best thesis.<ref name="Faculty profile">{{Cite web |url=http://www.earthqhaz.net/nathsir/cv_skn.pdf |title=Faculty profile |date=2016 |publisher=IIT Kharagpur |access-date=2017-01-02 |archive-date=2016-08-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806181510/http://earthqhaz.net/nathsir/cv_skn.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> After working as a [[Council of Scientific and Industrial Research|CSIR]] junior research fellow at IIT Kharagpur for 6 months, he started his career as a junior geophysicist with Indicos Computer Services, a Mumbai-based firm, in 1982. Two years later, he moved to [[Oil India]] station in [[Assam]] where he worked as a geoscientist and senior geoscientist till 1988.<ref name="Nath on Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre">{{Cite web |url=http://www.vecc.gov.in/colloquia/speaker_details/101 |title=Nath on Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre |date=2016 |publisher=VNCC - Department of Atomic Energy}}</ref> Returning to his home state in January that year, he had a short stint of 7 months at Computech Ispat, Kolkata as the processing manager before enrolling for doctoral studies at IIT Kharagpur, simultaneously working as a lecturer. During this period, he secured a PhD in seismic prospecting in 1993 and did his post-doctoral studies on [[earthquake seismology]] at the [[Geophysical Institute]] of the [[University of Alaska Fairbanks]] during 1995–96 at the laboratory of Niren N. Biswas. On his return to India in 1996, he resumed his service at IIT Kharagpur and served in various capacities as an assistant professor, associate professor and professor before becoming the head of the department of geology and geophysics in 2003 and held the post till 2006. He also had a second stint at University of Alaska Fairbanks as a visiting scientist during 1998–2003. He continued his association with IIT Kharagpur as a senior professor till November 2024 before got appointed as the VC of Burdwan University.<ref name="Faculty profile" />

== Legacy ==
[[File:Nepal Earthquake 2015 01.jpg|235px|thumb|Nepal Earthquake 2015]]
Nath is known to have studied the seismic activities in the [[Himalayas|Himalayan region]] including the earthquakes in Nepal in [[April 2015 Nepal earthquake|April]] and [[May 2015 Nepal earthquake|May 2015]]<ref name="Nepal earthquake: This one was big but The Big One is yet to come, say experts">{{Cite web |url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/this-one-was-big-but-the-big-one-is-yet-to-come-say-experts/ |title=Nepal earthquake: This one was big but The Big One is yet to come, say experts |date=May 12, 2015 |publisher=Indian Express |work=News report}}</ref> and has contributed to developing novel applications of geotomography.<ref name="Brief Profile of the Awardee" /> He has been involved in a number of government-sponsored project studies which included ''Seismic Hazard Microzonation and Evaluation of Vulnerability & Risk of Sikkim Himalaya, Guwahati Megacity, Urban Kolkata and Kashmir Valley'' project of the [[Ministry of Earth Sciences]], ''National Programme in Earthquake Engineering Education in India'' of the [[Ministry of Human Resource Development]], ''National Programme for Capacity Building of Engineers in Earthquake Risk Management'' of the [[Ministry of Home Affairs (India)|Ministry of Home Affairs]] and the ''National Earthquake Risk Mitigation Programme'' of the [[National Disaster Management Authority (India)|National Disaster Management Authority]].<ref name="Nath on Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre" /> His studies have been documented in several peer-reviewed articles;<ref name="List of Publications of Prof. Sankar Kumar Nath">{{Cite web |url=http://www.earthqhaz.net/nathsir/publications.pdf |title=List of Publications of Prof. Sankar Kumar Nath |date=2016 |publisher=IIT Kharagpur}}</ref>{{Refn|group=note|Please see ''Selected bibliography'' section}} [[Google Scholar]] and [[ResearchGate]], online repositories of scientific articles, have listed 122<ref name="On Google Scholar">{{Cite web |url=https://scholar.google.nl/citations?user=UzzcIrYAAAAJ&hl=en |title=On Google Scholar |date=2016 |publisher=Google Scholar}}</ref> and 93 of them respectively.<ref name="On ResearchGate">{{Cite web |url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sankar_Nath |title=On ResearchGate |date=2016 }}</ref> He is the author of the ''Seismic Microzonation Manual'' and ''Seismic Microzonation Handbook'' published by the Ministry of Earth Sciences<ref name="Seismic Microzonation Manual and Handbook">{{Cite web |url=http://dod.nic.in/content/seismic-microzonation-manual-and-handbook |title=Seismic Microzonation Manual and Handbook |date=2016 |publisher=Ministry of Earth Sciences }}{{Dead link|date=November 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and the editor of ''Training Handbook for the Faculty of the State Resource Institutions'', a reference manual for capacity building in earthquake risk management published by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the former two are prescribed texts for academic education in India.<ref name="Course Structure">{{Cite web |url=http://ismdhanbad.ac.in/depart/geophysics/Syllabus-M.%20Tech..pdf |title=Course Structure |date=2016 |publisher=Indian School of Mines |access-date=2017-01-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103003127/http://ismdhanbad.ac.in/depart/geophysics/Syllabus-M.%20Tech..pdf |archive-date=2017-01-03 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Besides, he is the author of ''Schlumberger Geoelectric Sounding in Gro'', a text explaining the application of Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) curves in explorational geophysics.<ref name="Schlumberger Geoelectric Sounding in Gro">{{Cite book |title=Schlumberger Geoelectric Sounding in Gro |last=Sankar Kumar Nath, Hari Pada Patra |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-9054107897 |date=1999 |page=160}}</ref> Nath, who has delivered several keynote and plenary addresses at seminars and conferences in India<ref name="VECC Colloqium">{{Cite web |url=http://www.vecc.gov.in/writereaddata/upload/colloquia/24_11_2014.pdf |title=VECC Colloqium |date=2014 |website=Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre}}</ref> and abroad,<ref name="Faculty profile" /> is also credited with contributions in the establishment of a strong motion network 16 earthquake monitoring stations in the Himalayan region and two broadband seismological observatories at the Kharagpur and Kolkata campuses of IIT Kharagpur.<ref name="Nath on Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre" />

== Awards and honors ==
S. K. Nath received the National Mineral Award of the [[Ministry of Mines (India)|Ministry of Mines]] in 1999<ref name="National Geoscience Award">{{Cite web |url=http://www.mines.nic.in/writereaddata/Content/A_NationalGeoscience_Awardees1995-2012.pdf |title=National Geoscience Award |date=2016 |publisher=Ministry of Mines (India) |page=55 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161130132938/http://www.mines.nic.in/writereaddata/Content/A_NationalGeoscience_Awardees1995-2012.pdf |archivedate=2016-11-30 }}</ref> and the [[Council of Scientific and Industrial Research]] awarded him the [[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize]], one of the highest Indian science awards in 2002.<ref name="Earth Sciences">{{Cite web |url=http://www.csir.res.in/External/Heads/career/award/BPRIZE/Earth_SCIENCES.htm |title=Earth Sciences |date=2016 |publisher=Council of Scientific and Industrial Research |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303200915/http://www.csir.res.in/external/heads/career/award/BPRIZE/Earth_SCIENCES.htm |archivedate=2016-03-03 }}</ref> The Bharat Jyoti Award of the [[India International Friendship Society]] reached him in 2003 and he received two awards in 2004 viz. SGAT Award of Excellence of the Society of Geoscientists and Allied Technologists<ref name="S. K. Nath on Technology Transfer Group">{{Cite web |url=http://www.ttg-sric.iitkgp.ernet.in/ttg/bio.php?nick=ggnath |title=S. K. Nath on Technology Transfer Group |date=2016 |publisher=TTG-IIT Kharagpur}}</ref> and Homi J. Bhabha Award for Applied Sciences of Hari OM Ashram Trust and the [[University Grants Commission of India]].<ref name="UGC- Hari Om Ashram Trust Awards">{{Cite web |url=http://www.ugc.ac.in/page/Honours-and-Awards.aspx |title=UGC- Hari Om Ashram Trust Awards |date=2016 |publisher=University Grants Commission}}</ref> These were followed by the Dr. J. Coggin Brown Memorial Gold Medal which he received in 2005.<ref name="S. K. Nath on Technology Transfer Group" /> He is an elected fellow of the Indian Geophysical Union,<ref name="IGU fellows" /> the National Academy of Sciences, India<ref name="NASI fellows" /> and the Indian National Academy of Engineering<ref name="INAE fellows" /> and a life member of the Society of Geoscientists and Allied Technologists.<ref name="Life member - SGAT">{{Cite web |url=http://sgat.in/download/SGAT%20Life%20Member%20Directory.pdf |title=Life member - SGAT |date=2016 |publisher=Society of Geoscientists and Allied Technologists}}</ref>

== Selected bibliography ==
=== Books ===
* {{Cite book |title=Schlumberger Geoelectric Sounding in Gro |last=Sankar Kumar Nath, Hari Pada Patra |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-9054107897 |date=1999 |page=160}}
* {{Cite web |title=Seismic Microzonation Manual |last=S. K. Nath |publisher=Ministry of Earth Sciences |date=2011}}
* {{Cite web |title=Seismic Microzonation Handbook |last=S. K. Nath |publisher=Ministry of Earth Sciences |date=2011}}
* {{Cite web |title=Training Handbook for the Faculty of the State Resource Institutions |last=S. K. Nath (editor) |publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs |work=Training manual}}

=== Articles ===
* {{Cite journal |last=Nath, S. K., Roy, D. and Thingbaijam, K. K. S. |title=Disaster mitigation and management for West Bengal, India An appraisal |journal=Curr. Sci. |date=2008 |volume=94 |issue=7 |pages=858–866}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Nath, S. K., Shukla, K., Vyas M. J. |title=Seismic Hazard Scenario and Attenuation Model of the Garhwal Himalaya using Near Field Synthesis from Weak Motion Seismometry |journal=J. Earth Syst. Sci. |date=2008 |volume=117 |issue=a |pages=649–670 |doi=10.1007/s12040-008-0062-6|bibcode=2008JESS..117..649N |s2cid=129921624 }}
* {{Cite journal |last=Sankar Kumar Nath, Kiran Kumar Singh Thingbaijam, Abhishek Raj |title=Earthquake Hazard in the Northeast India - A Seismic Microzonation Approach with Typical Case Studies from Sikkim Himalaya and Guwahati city |journal=J. Earth Syst. Sci. |date=2008 |volume=118 |issue=S2 |pages=809–831 |doi=10.1007/s12040-008-0070-6|bibcode=2008JESS..117..809N |s2cid=129013751 }}
* {{Cite journal |last=S. K. Nath, K. K. S. Thingbaijam |title=Seismic hazard assessment – a holistic microzonation approach |journal=Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. |date=2009 |volume=9 |issue=4 |pages=1445–1459 |doi=10.5194/nhess-9-1445-2009|bibcode=2009NHESS...9.1445N |doi-access=free }}
* {{Cite journal |last=S. K. Nath, A. Raj, K. K. S. Thingbaijam, A. Kumar |title=Ground Motion Synthesis and Seismic Scenario in Guwahati City—A Stochastic Approach |journal=Seismological Research Letters |date=2009 |volume=80 |issue=2 |pages=233–242 |doi=10.1785/gssrl.80.2.233|bibcode=2009SeiRL..80..233N }}

== See also ==
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Seismic microzonation]]
* [[Geology of the Himalaya]]
* [[Operation Sankat Mochan]]
* [[Operation Maitri]]
{{div col end}}
{{portal|India|Geology}}

== Notes ==
{{reflist|group=note|50em}}

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
* {{Cite web |url=http://www.moes.gov.in/writereaddata/files/seismic_mcrozonation_manual.pdf |title=Seismic Microzonation Manual |last=S. K. Nath |publisher=Ministry of Earth Sciences |date=2011|work=full text}}
* {{Cite web |url=http://dod.nic.in/writereaddata/files/seismic_microzonation_handbook.pdf |title=Seismic Microzonation Handbook |last=S. K. Nath |publisher=Ministry of Earth Sciences |date=2011 |work=full text |access-date=2017-01-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103003434/http://dod.nic.in/writereaddata/files/seismic_microzonation_handbook.pdf |archive-date=2017-01-03 |url-status=dead }}
* {{Cite web |url=http://dod.nic.in/writereaddata/files/seismic_microzonation_handbook.pdf |title=Seismic Hazard Group |publisher=IIT Kharagpur |date=2016 |work=Profile of the research group |access-date=2017-01-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103003434/http://dod.nic.in/writereaddata/files/seismic_microzonation_handbook.pdf |archive-date=2017-01-03 |url-status=dead }}

{{SSBPST recipients in Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean & Planetary Sciences}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nath, Sankar Kumar}}
[[Category:Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean & Planetary Sciences]]
[[Category:1960 births]]
[[Category:Indian geophysicists]]
[[Category:Scientists from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Indian seismologists]]
[[Category:IIT Kharagpur alumni]]
[[Category:Academic staff of IIT Kharagpur]]
[[Category:University of Alaska Fairbanks alumni]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Indian Geophysical Union]]
[[Category:Fellows of the National Academy of Sciences, India]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian earth scientists]]

Sankar Kumar Nath - Revision history

Ambi: Started