top of page

RESUME

PUNAM TYAGI, Ph.D.

Environmental Compliance Specialist IV

Water and Science Administration

State of Maryland Department of the Environment

Punam.jpg

Dr. Punam Tyagi has more than 15 years of extensive research/field experience in the areas of ecology & environment, biology, water quality monitoring & assessment, tidal & nontidal wetlands, industrial pollution, nonpoint water pollution, and plant toxicology.

Dr. Tyagi's expertise is in environmental science. Since last 10 years, she is serving the Maryland Department of Environment as an environmental compliance specialist. During her work, she has gained understanding about challenges and technologies associated with water pollution. Dr. Tyagi has also worked as a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Kentucky and found a new method of identifying biological pollution in water. Dr. Tyagi has published 20 peer reviewed publications and articles in edited books.

She has obtained expertise in identifying the microbiological water pollution sources employing the fecal sterol and bile acid biomarkers. While working at the University of Kentucky, She has determined the profiles of sterol and bile acid biomarkers for various domesticated pollution sources (chicken, cow, horse, and pig) in the Kentucky’s Bluegrass Region and then identified the most reliable biomarker relationships. This is an approach that offers promise for more accurately differentiating among pollution source candidates. 

She has PhD in Environmental Sciences with majors on “study the impacts of industrialization on soil and groundwater quality”. She has investigated heavy metals, physicochemical, and microbiological parameters in groundwater and soil of the highly industrialized area. The importance of this work was recognized in the form of a prestigious fellowship from the Council for Scientific & Industrial Research, India (2002‐2003). Besides her strong experimental skills, she has learned Artificial Neural Network (ANN) modeling for predicting and backfilling the missing water quality data. She has also used different statistical models to best describe the research findings. 

Dr. Tyagi mentored middle school students to participate in national competitions like First Lego League and Destination Imagination Engineering challenge in 2016, 2017 and 2018. The FLL robotics team won First place in the regional tournaments and 7th place among 48 teams in the state tournament. The  “Destination Imagination” team received Renaissance award and Championship award in the regional competition and 4th place in the state level competition.  Dr. Tyagi also has a patent pending on   “Rainwater harvesting and treatment” system.

EDUCATIONAL DETAILS

Ph.D.       2003       Energy and Environmental Sciences

               [Dissertation: “Study the Impacts of Industrialization on Groundwater/Soil Quality”

M.S.        1998       Environmental Sciences

B.S.         1996       Biology (Zoology, Botany, & Chemistry)

PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYMENT

2008– Present         Environmental Compliance Specialist IV, Maryland Department of the Environment,  WMA, Maryland, USA   

2004 – 2008            Post-doctoral Scholar, College of Agriculture, University of Kentucky, USA.

"Development of Fecal Sterol and Bile Acid Biomarkers to Identify Microbiological Water Pollution Sources."

CERTIFICATES AND LICENSE

  • ArcGIS Certificate (Getting Started with GIS), 2010 – Certified by Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI)

  • Watershed Management Training Certificate, 2009 – EPA’s Watershed Academy Web program

  • Erosion and Sediment Control Certification, 2008 –MDE Green Card

AWARDS/FELLOWSHIPS/ACHIEVEMENTS

2017                 Nominated for the Employee of the Year Award, State of Maryland Department of the Environment.

2016                 Employee of the Quarter Award, WSA program, State of Maryland Department of the Environment.

2009                  Recognized by America’s Who’s Who for outstanding research achievements.

2002 – 2003     Senior Research Fellow in the project "Impact of Industrialization on Ground Water Quality of Pithampur Industrial area, M.P." sponsored by Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi, India.

2000 –2001     Senior Research Fellow in the project "Urban & Industrial Effluents in Agriculture” sponsored by Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), Delhi, India. 

2001              Qualified National level exam (NET) in Environmental Sciences for the Assistant professorship in India.

1999 – 2000   Research Fellow in the Project Entitled “Energy Conservation through Thermal Energy Storage", sponsored by AICTE, New Delhi, India.

Areas of Specialization

  • Conducting compliance inspections for various media under water management administration,

  • Water & Waste water Quality Assessment and Monitoring,

  • Watershed Management

  • Groundwater & Soil Chemistry,

  • Non-Point Sources of Water Pollution,

  • Management of Hazardous Solid Waste,

  • Water Quality Modeling,

  • Ecology & Environment

  • Environmental Impact Assessment

  • Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) Modeling,

  • Plant Toxicology

EXPERTISE IN INSTRUMENT HANDLING

  • Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AAS), 

  • Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS),

  • UV-Vis Spectrometer, 

  • Colorimeter,

  • High Performance Liquid Chromatograph (HPLC),

  • Flame Photo Meter (FPM)

  • Nephelometer /turbiditymeter

 TRAINING/COURSES ATTENDED

  1. “Managing Floodplain Development Through the NFIP” floodplain management training provided by MDE & National Flood Insurance Program from July 11-15, 2011.

  2. Nontidal wetlands training (5 day) provided by the Maryland Department of Environment in June 2011.

  3. “Gathering evidence and collecting samples” environmental training offered by EPA on November 8-10, 2010 in Annapolis, MD, USA.

  4. “Getting Started with GIS” course completed from ESRI [9.0 hrs]

COMPUTER SKILLS

  • TRIP Software for MDE’s Field Inspection Reports

  • ArcGIS software basic working knowledge

  • SigmaStat software.

  • Regression modelling for statistical data analysis

  • Neural Network Modeling

  • Microsoft office Word, Excel, PowerPoint.

PUBLICATIONS: Journal articles, Book Chapters, and Conference papers

  1. Punam Tyagi, D. R. Edwards & M. S. Coyne. 2009. Distinguishing between human and animal sources of fecal pollution in waters- a review. International Journal of Water, Vol. 5, No. 1, 15-34.

  2. Punam Tyagi, D. R. Edwards & M. S. Coyne. 2009. Fecal Sterol and Bile Acid Biomarkers: Runoff Concentrations in Animal Waste-Amended Pastures. Water, Air & Soil Pollution, Vol 198, 45-54.

  3. Punam Tyagi, V. Chandramouli, S. Lingareddy & D. Buddhi. 2008. Relative Performance of Artificial Neural Networks and Regression Models in Predicting Missing Water Quality Data. Environmental Engineering Science, Vol. 25, No. 5, 657-668.

  4. Punam Tyagi, D. R. Edwards & M. S. Coyne. 2008. Use of Sterol and Bile Acid Biomarkers to Identify Domesticated Animal Sources of Fecal Pollution. Water, Air & Soil Pollution, Vol. 187, No. 1-4, 263-274.

  5. Punam Tyagi, D. R. Edwards & M. S. Coyne. 2007. Use of selected chemical markers in combination with a multiple regression model to assess the contribution of domesticated animal sources of fecal pollution in the environment. Chemosphere, Vol 69, No. 10, pp 1617-1624.

  6. Punam Tyagi, D. Buddhi & R.L Sawhney. 2003. Forecasting of Ground Water Quality of Pithampur Industrial Area of M.P. for the Year 2004-05. Indian Journal of Environmental Protection, Vol. 23, No. 3, pp. 293-303.

  7. Punam Tyagi, D. Buddhi, R.L Sawhney & R.Kothari. 2003. A Correlation among Physico-Chemical Parameters of Ground Water in and Around Pithampur Industrial Area of M.P., India. Indian Journal of Environmental Protection, Vol. 23, No. 11, pp. 1276-1282.

  8. D. Buddhi, Punam Tyagi, R.L.Sawhney & R.Kothari. 2003. Ground Water Quality of Pithampur Industrial Area: Opinion Survey of the Residents. Indian Journal of Environmental Protection, Vol. 24, No. 3, pp.167-172.

  9. D. Buddhi, Punam Tyagi & R.L. Sawhney. 2002. Assessment of Ground Water Quality in and around Pithampur Industrial area of M.P., India. Indian Journal of Environmental Protection, Vol.22, No.7 pp.732-741.

  10. Punam Tyagi & Namita Joshi. 2001. A Comparative Study of Some Physico-chemical Parameters of Soil Irrigated with Recycled & Tube-well water. Indian Journal of Environmental Protection, Vol. 21, No.6, pp 525-528.

  11. Punam Tyagi, D.Buddhi, Rubeena Choudhary & R.L. Sawhney. 2000. Physico-chemical Quality of Ground Water in Industrial Areas of India- a Review. Pollution Research, Vol.19, No.3, pp 443-455.

  12. Punam Tyagi, D.Buddhi, Rubeena Choudhary & R.L. Sawhney. 2000. Degradation of Ground water Quality Due to Heavy Metals in Industrial Areas of India- a Review. Indian Journal of Environmental Protection, Vol.20, No.3, pp.174-181.

BOOK CHAPTERS

  1. Punam Tyagi & Namita Joshi. 2002. “A Comparative Study of some Physico-chemical Parameters of Soil Irrigated with Recycled & Tube-Well Water”, in “Industry and Environment” Ed. Prof. R.K. Trivedy, Pub. Daya Publication India.

  2. R.Kothari, Punam Tyagi & D. Buddhi. 2002. "A Study of Effect of Soya Solvent Extraction Plants on local Ground Water and Soil", in "Environmental Pollution and Agriculture" Ed. Prof. Arvind Kumar, Pub. APH Publishing Corporation, New Delhi, pp 63-68.

  3. Punam Tyagi, D.Buddhi, Rubeena Choudhary & R.L. Sawhney. 2001. "Degradation of Ground Water Quality in Industrial Areas of India- A Review", in "Ecology of Polluted Waters", Ed. Dr Arvind Kumar, Pub. APH Publishing Corporation, New Delhi, Vol.2, pp. 693-672.

PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATIONS

  1. Punam Tyagi, M. S. Coyne & D. R. Edwards. 2008. “Sterol and bile acid biomarkers in Combination with a Multiple Regression Model to Identify the Domesticated Animal Sources of Fecal Pollution in the Environment”, in “ASABE Annual International Meeting”, June 29-July 2, 2008, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.

  2. Punam Tyagi, D. R. Edwards & M. S. Coyne. 2006. “Identifying the sources of sewage pollution using fecal sterols and bile acids biomarkers with multiple regression model approach”, in “Regarding innovations in reducing nonpoint source pollution conference”, Nov 28- 30, 2006, Hanover, Indiana, USA.

  3. R. Kothari & Punam Tyagi. 2003. “Effect of Total Dissolved Solids on the Rate of Generation of Hydrogen”, in “International Conference on Thermal Energy Storage Technologies & 4th Experts Meeting”, March 21-24, 2003, M.P., India.

  4. Punam Tyagi & R.K. Jain. 2001. “Accumulation of Heavy Metals in Industrial Wastes Irrigated Vertisols” in “66th annual convention of Indian Society of Soil Sciences”, 30 Oct’- 2 Nov’ 2001, Rajasthan, India.

  5. Punam Tyagi, D.Buddhi, R. Choudhary & R.L. Sawhney. 1999.  “Degradation of Ground Water Quality in Industrial Areas of India- a Review” in “Conference on Industry & Environment (CIE-99)”, sponsored by, “University Grant Commission (UGC) & National Foundation for Environment, India”.

CONFERENCES ATTENDED

  1. Maryland 27th Annual Ground Water Symposium organized by Maryland Department of Environment in September 2018 in Baltimore, MD, USA.

  2. Maryland 20th Annual Ground Water Symposium organized by Maryland Department of Environment in September 2011 in Baltimore, MD, USA.

  3. Maryland 19th Annual Ground Water Symposium organized by Maryland Department of Environment. 2010

  4. Kentucky River Watershed Watch 8th Annual Watershed Protection Conference, February 5th 2005, Midway, KY, USA.

  5. Southeast Student Renewable Energy Conference, April 2nd - 4th 2004 at Chapel Hill and Durham, North Carolina, USA, sponsored by “Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Renewable Choice Energy, and the Associated Colleges of the South”.

  6. Recycling and Reuse of wastes, Oct. 04th to13th, 1999 at G.S. Institute of Technology & Science, Indore, India, sponsored by “Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organization (CPHEEO), Ministry of Urban Development, Govt. of India New Delhi”.

  7. International Conference on Energy Storage Technologies & Systems (ICOESTS), Feb. 01st to 04th 1999 at Devi Ahilya University, India, sponsored by, “National Institute –Industry Forum for Energy (NIIFE), India”.

SERVICE TO SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY

  1. Reviewer for “International Journal of Environment and Pollution”, published by “Inderscience Enterprises Limited” http://www.inderscience.com/ijep.

  2. Reviewer for “International Journal of Hydrogen Energy”, published by “Elsevier Publication” http://ees.elsevier.com/he/ .

  3. Reviewer for “Environmental Science & Technology” http://pubs.acs.org/toc/

  4. Reviewer for “Chemical Sciences Journal” http://astonjournals.com/csj

  5. Member of following associations: American Water Works Association (AWWA) and International Association for Environmental Hydrology (IAEH)

  6. Served as judge for “National Children’s Science Exhibition”, organized by “Vigyan Prasar, Vipnet Children’s Science Centre, Indore, M.P., India”, 22 Oct’ 2002.

bottom of page