The Liu Lobby Gallery: Millions of Kitchens. Are They Safe?


DATE
Wednesday February 8, 2023 - Friday February 24, 2023
COST
Free

 

Assessing the Effect of Residential Energy use on Indoor Pollution in Rural India. A Photography Exhibit by Liu Scholar Mrinmoy Chakraborty, Faculty Mentor Milind Kandlikar | February 8 – 24, 2023. Closing Reception Feb 23 at 5:30pm. 

 

The Liu Lobby Gallery presents a two-week long exhibition featuring the photography of Liu Scholar Mrinmoy Chakraborty.

Energy usage patterns in daily household activities can affect human health and climate, as they can contribute to indoor and outdoor air pollution. Millions of households from lower and middle-income countries depend on cheap and traditional fuels for cooking and other energy needs, which can contribute to severe air pollution. In 2019, a group of researchers from UBC Vancouver conducted a field study in India to investigate the relationship between energy usage in cooking and air quality experienced by rural communities. UBC’s doctoral candidate and Liu Scholar, Mrinmoy Chakraborty, has been a part of this campaign and working on characterizing the indoor kitchen emissions from these households. This exhibition features what he has learned about the pollution experienced by rural homes in India and his journey and experiences from that field campaign through his camera.

The exhibit is free and open to the public during regular building hours, 9am-5pm. It is located in the lobby on the first floor.

 

Closing Reception: Thursday, February 23 at 5:30 PM at the Liu Lobby Gallery 

Join Mrinmoy in a special closing reception, where he will hold a walk-through discussion of his exhibit. Refreshments provided. Register for the reception here.

 

Mrinmoy Chakraborty is a PhD candidate at the University of British Columbia and a Liu Scholar at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. He is jointly supervised by Dr. Naomi Zimmerman and Dr. Amanda Giang. He has completed a master’s in Environmental Engineering and Management from IIT Kanpur and undergraduate studies in Civil Engineering from West Bengal University of Technology, Kolkata. Mrinmoy’s research involves scientific evaluation and applications of low-cost sensors and micro-aethalometers in challenging environments. He is interested in characterizing household sources of air pollution and its impact on human health and climate change.