KERALA STATE COUNCIL FOR SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT

Dr Neethu B, Scientist-B
Dr Neethu B,
Scientist-B

About me

Dr. Neethu B holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering and is experienced in energy and environmental remediation, including waste-to-energy conversion. At KSCSTE, she leads major initiatives fostering academic–industry partnerships, nurturing young innovators, and advancing inclusive programmes for visually impaired students.

Her expertise spans wastewater treatment, microbial fuel cell technology, and large-scale environmental monitoring. She has coordinated national projects, guided interdisciplinary research teams, and contributed extensively to peer-reviewed journals and international conferences. Dr. Neethu has also served on steering committees, programme advisory boards, and editorial panels, actively mentoring students and professionals while promoting sustainable technologies and cross-sector collaborations.

Name of Schemes &programmes (including external funded Programmes):

  • Partnering Academic Industry Research (PAIR)
  • A P J abdulKalam Youth Challenge programme (APJYCP)
  • Crafting Young Scientists of Tomorrow (CRYSTAL)
  • State Centre Resource Initiative for Partnering Technology (SCRIPT)
  • National Technology Day
  • National Science Day
  • National Mathematics Day

Academic

Academic Qualifications:

  • PhD: (Subject/Broad Area, Title, year, Institution/University)
    Subject (Broad area): Environmental Engineering (Bioelectrochemical systems),
    Title: Development of low cost Microbial carbon capture cell for simultaneous electricity generation, wastewater treatment and algal production.
    Year: 2020
    Institution: Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
  • Post- graduation: (Subject, year, University)
    Subject: Environmental Engineering
    Year: 2015
    Institute: Visveswaraya National Institute of Technology Nagpur (VNIT)
    Graduation: (Subject, year, University)
    Subject: Civil Engineering
    Year: 2012
    Institute: NSS College of Engineering

Professional Experience/ Academic Positions:

  1. Adhoc Faculty, NIT Calicut

 

Research

  • Water and Wastewater treatment
  • Bio electrochemistry
  • Bioenergy production
  • Microalgal carbon capture

 

Publications

Neethu, B., Bhowmick, G. D., &Ghangrekar, M. M. (2019). A novel proton exchange membrane developed from clay and activated carbon derived from coconut shell for application in microbial fuel cell. Biochemical Engineering Journal148, 170-177.

Neethu, B., Bhowmick, G. D., &Ghangrekar, M. M. (2018). Enhancement of bioelectricity generation and algal productivity in microbial carbon-capture cell using low cost coconut shell as membrane separator. Biochemical Engineering Journal133, 205-213.

Neethu, B., Bhowmick, G. D., &Ghangrekar, M. M. (2020). Improving performance of microbial fuel cell by enhanced bacterial-anode interaction using sludge immobilized beads with activated carbon. Process Safety and Environmental Protection143, 285-292.

Neethu, B., Tholia, V., &Ghangrekar, M. M. (2020). Optimizing performance of a microbial carbon-capture cell using Box-Behnken design. Process Biochemistry95, 99-107.

Neethu, B., Bhowmick, G. D., Fathima, A., &Ghangrekar, M. M. (2020). Anodic inoculum pre-treatment by extracts of Azadirachtaindica leaves and Allium sativum peels for improved bioelectricity recovery from microbial fuel cell. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy45(43), 23391-23400.

Neethu, B., &Ghangrekar, M. M. (2017). Electricity generation through a photo sediment microbial fuel cell using algae at the cathode. Water Science and Technology76(12), 3269-3277.

Neethu, B., Ihjas, K., Chakraborty, I., &Ghangrekar, M. M. (2024). Nickel adsorbed algae biochar based oxygen reduction reaction catalyst. Bioelectrochemistry159, 108747.

URL of Googlescholar/researchgateetc: Dr. Neethu B – Google Scholar

 

Awards

  • Best Paper Award at 36th Kerala Science Congress held at Government College Kasaragod, Kerala.

 

 

Membership

  • Integrated Civil Engineers Council
  • Material Research Society

 

 

My Team

Smt. Amina S
Project Fellow

Remya-Mohan-R
Smt. Remya Mohan R
Project Assistant

 

Contact

Dr. Neethu B
Junior Scientist,2nd Floor,
SasthraBhavan, Pattom P O.,
Thiruvananthapuram – 695004
Email ID: Neethu.kscste@kerala.gov.in;
neethukscste@gmail.com
Phone (Office/Mob): offc: 0471-2548316