Dr. Pooja
Junior Research Fellow
The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus
Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.
Email: Pooja.Pooja@uwi.edu
Qualifications
- Ph.D. (Organic Chemistry), The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago, 2019
- M. Sc. (Chemistry), Guru Nanak Dev University, India, 2000
- B. Sc. (Chemistry and Biology Majors), Guru Nanak Dev University, India, 1997
- M. Ed. (Technology of Teaching) , Guru Nanak Dev University, India, 2001
- B. Ed. (Physical and Biosciences), Guru Nanak Dev University, India, 1998
Fellowships and Training
- Course on “Teaching Science at University”, Facilitated by Coursera, Nov. 11- Dec. 10, 2024.
- CETL (UWI) Courses on Effective Course Design, Introduction to Open Education Resources (OER) in Higher Education, MyeLearning Workshop Activity, Learning Outcomes: Writing and Alignment, Teaching with Zoom (2023-2026)
- Workshop on “Patent Awareness” at Amritsar College of Engg. & Technology, Amritsar, India on 6th Feb. 2008.
- Staff Development Program on “Adoption of Technological Changes in Engineering Education” at Thapar Institute of Engg. & Tech., Patiala, India from June 21st to 02 July, 2004.
- Six-week Summer Training on Reformatsky Reaction at Department of Chemistry, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, India from July 4 to August 21, 2000.
Research Interests
- Synthesis of drugs for Tuberculosis
- Synthesis of organic materials for energy applications
- Chemistry in Education
Professional Experience
- 8.5 years of undergraduate-level teaching experience in Chemistry at University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, T&T and Amritsar College of Engg. & Technology, IKG Punjab Technical University, India.
Featured Work
- Qurat Ul Ain, Charanjit Kaur, Pooja, Ray J. Butcher, Rekha Sharma. “Crystal structure, bioactivity and in silico binding simulations of NiII and ZnII Thiosemicarbazone complexes”, Inorganica Chimica Acta, Elsevier, Vol. 589, Pn. 122934, 2026.
- Pooja and Rekha Sharma, “Promising Techniques for Degradation of Emerging Contaminants”, Advances in Treatment Methods Towards Emerging Contaminants, Elsevier. Paperback ISBN: 9780443342707, eBook ISBN: 9780443342714 (Publication date 31st Oct. 2025).
- Pooja, Gurdial Singh, Bhoomendra A. Bhongade, Malleshappa N. Noolvi, and Andanappa K. Gadad. "Synthesis of 5-Fluoroaminobenzothiazoles." SynOpen, Vol. 4, No. 02, pp. 23-32, 2020 https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0040-1707105 (IF=2.1)
Skills
- Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectroscopy
- Ultraviolet (UV) Spectroscopy
- Infra-Red (IR) Spectroscopy
- Mass Spectroscopy
- Chromatography
- High-Performance Liquid Chromatography
Honours and Awards
- State Level Eligibility Test (SLET) for Lectureship in Chemistry, accredited by the University Grant Commission (UGC) of India.
- National Eligibility Test (NET) for Lectureship in Education, accredited by the UGC of India.
Courses Taught
- CHEM-1062 - Basic Chemistry for Life Sciences
- CHEM 1066-Introduction to Chemistry I
- CHEM 1067- Introduction to Chemistry II
- CHEM 1068- Introduction to Chemistry III
- CHEM 2672 Core Chemistry Laboratory I
- CHEM 2673 Core Chemistry Laboratory II
- CHEM 3670 Research Project for Chemistry Majors
- Engineering Chemistry
Research Projects
- Novel curcumin-based heterocyclic derivative with potential biomedical and material science applications (Post-Doctoral).
- Energy Generation and Wastewater Treatment using Indigenous Microorganisms through Microbial Fuel Cells (PhD-ongoing).
- Development and assessment of Microbial Fuel Cell based waste-to-energy recovery system (BSc – 2025).
- Deposition of Organic Thin Films using the Spin Coating Technique (BSc - 2023).
- The Effect of Temperature on Biodiesel Synthesis and Analyzing Biodiesel Ecotoxicity (BSc - 2022).
- Analysis of Water Quality on Four Types of Water Samples (BSc - 2022).
Graduate Students
- Miguel Andrews (PhD-ongoing)
Grants
- Campus Research and Publication Fund (Grant #CRP.5.JULY13.2) of TTD 15000.00 for Project “Synthesis and Evaluation of N-Substituted Amino Benzothiazoles as Antimycobacterial” (2013).
