MissChetna Vaghela

Chetna Vaghela FHEA MSc is the Anglian Water Teaching Fellow and Partnership Coordinator of the Strategic Research Partnership between Anglian Water and Imperial College London, and the Co-convenor of the Integrated Water Management Option of the MSc in Environmental Technology at the Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London. Being based at CEP, Chetna works at the science, business and policy nexus with a specialism in higher education teaching in water management.

Chetna specialises in the UK water sector including: academic - industry partnerships, knowledge (e.g. water sector, wastewater treatment, water reuse technologies, nature based solutions and systems thinking), research project development, postgraduate learning and teaching in water management and Equality Diversity and Inclusion. Her previous specialisms have included laboratory (biochemistry and microbiology) and fieldwork research.

On a day to day basis she coordinates multi-disciplinary activities between departments/industry and national/international research institutes and supports Anglian Water teaching on the MSc in Environmental Technology. She is responsible for generating innovative concepts and proposals, liaising with private and public sector funding agencies and facilitating the enduring alliance between Imperial College, Anglian Water and other organisations. Chetna has enormous interests in holistic approaches for conservation and society.

With interests in applying scientific skills for conservation and environmental efforts, Chetna has professional experience with public and private conservation organisations, including monitoring marine and freshwater environments. Furthermore, i academic research, Chetna specialised in applying forensic methods for detecting NSAIDs and illicit drugs in Cambridgeshire rivers, following sewage treated effluent, combining her love for the natural and scientific world.

Prior to this, Chetna worked in the Department of Life Sciences on a EPSRC funded multidisciplinary project. Managing several research projects in different laboratories, her primary research focused on biofuels, where she specialised in the biochemistry and mycology of cellulases for the hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass in ionic liquids. As well as her research projects, Chetna supported two laboratories and managed a High Pressure Liquid Chromatography for a research group, including for own research.
Chetna gained first hand experience of multi-disciplinary (chemistry, chemical engineering and biochemistry) research collaborations to tackling some of the most pressing environmental and social challenges, further reflected at CEP.

During this time, Chetna volunteered as a Staff Supporter, enrolling in the Universities first pilot programme of the scheme to support the wellbeing of Imperial staff. Chetna continues to volunteer at CEP on various committees, including as Co-Chair of the department's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion committee and the Athena Swan Sub committee.


Teaching
Chetna is committed to inclusive postgraduate teaching and supporting our students. This is reflected in her teaching responsibilities as an Integrated Water Management Option Co-convenor where she supports peer, industry and her own teaching. She is co-module leader for 'Water Systems and Technology', a seminar leader for the 'Integrated Management Tools' module and 'Assessment Tools and Decision Making' module and an educational leader on site visits with industry. She also supports Anglian Water funded theses students, coordinates and provides teaching support for partnership students on a 16 month industry placement with Anglian Water. Chetna is a member of the departments, MSc teaching committee, External Examiners, and previously, the Mitigating Circumstances Board.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion across all levels is important to Chetna and she is the co chair of the department's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion committee, a member of Athena Swan sub-committee, a member of the Universities EDI forum and Website Editor Community.

Chetna enjoys being in nature and regularly volunteers with London based environmental charities and citizen science programmes focused on rivers, London history and conservation.