The Institute of Environmental Studies at the University of Karachi is considered one of the oldest and pioneering institutes in the field. Since its establishment in 1982, it has been dedicated towards the betterment and protection of our environment in order to improve Health issues and living quality of communities. It is considered as a technical focal point of Environmental Health activities of WHO and EMRO. It is headed by the renowned professor Dr. Tariq Masood Ali Khan.
Dr. Tariq Masood Ali Khan holds a PhD from the Department of Meteorology and Oceanography, University of Philippines which is a regional centre of the World Meteorological Organization. After completing his PhD in 1991 he joined the National Institute of Oceanography in the same year as a physical oceanographer and meteorologist. He was deputed to SAARC Meteorological Research centre in Dhaka Bangladesh in 1998 and has been a part of many national and international deep sea cruises during his research which also includes a trip to Antarctica.
Dr. Tariq Masood Ali Khan was part of the tide gauge installation along the Pakistani coast and also involved in the national program for Tsunami Early Warning Systems in Pakistan. He joined the University of Karachi in 2008 and is currently leading the department of Environmental Studies which is involved in researches regarding hazardous waste bio degradation, Climate change Modeling and the preservation of the ecology of Mangroves etc.