Dr. Padmanava Dash is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geosciences at Mississippi State University (MSU). He specializes in remote sensing and water biogeochemistry. His broad research interests include investigating the conditions under which water quality issues develop, assessing their ecological impacts, and developing visualizations for their management and mitigation. His research encompasses field, laboratory, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs), and satellite remote sensing approaches to study harmful algal blooms, suspended sediments, colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM), acidification, pathogens, nutrients, toxic elements, and heavy metals. This work aims to enhance the current state of knowledge on the detection and mapping of water quality parameters, thereby supporting federal, state, and coastal community efforts to manage human health and fisheries.

Two water quality visualization tools developed by his group can be accessed at:

https://www.water.geosci.msstate.edu/

https://www.water.geosci.msstate.edu/monitor/

Education

• Ph.D., Louisiana State University, Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, 2011, Dissertation: Quantitative Mapping of Cyanobacterial Blooms using Oceansat-1 OCM Satellite Data.
• M.S.,  Bowling Green State University, Department of Geology, 2005, Thesis: SeaWiFS Algorithm for Mapping Phycocyanin in Incipient Freshwater Cyanobacterial Blooms.