Ms Surya Sujathan
Dr. Surya Sujathan is a Research Associate at the School of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, at the University of Sydney (USYD). She received her PhD in Environmental Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT Kanpur) in 2024, where she focused on understanding the fate and transport of naturally occurring uranium in geogenically contaminated aquifers in India. She holds a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) from the College of Engineering Trivandrum and a Master of Technology (M.Tech) from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi). As part of her master's research, she was awarded the DAAD-IIT Master Sandwich Scholarship, enabling her to conduct research at Leibniz Universität Hannover, Germany. Before starting her PhD in 2016, she worked as a Junior Research Fellow at IIT Delhi, developing algal-bacterial biofilm reactors for greywater treatment in rural areas. Her current research focuses on advancing microplastic analysis techniques for environmental samples, particularly in clay-rich systems. She has published in leading scientific journals and is the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the GD Aggarwal Award for the most innovative thesis in Environmental Engineering.
Surya's research focuses on understanding contaminant fate and transport in environmental systems, with a particular emphasis on geochemical processes. Her key research areas include:
Geochemistry and Mineral-Water Interactions– Investigating geochemical reactions governing the mobility of contaminants, including mineral dissolution, precipitation, and adsorption processes.
Reactive Transport Modeling– Developing predictive models to understand the coupled physical, chemical, and biological processes influencing contaminant migration in groundwater systems.
Microplastic Analysis and Detection Techniques– Advancing high-throughput quantification methods for microplastics in complex environmental matrices, particularly in clay-rich sediments.
Groundwater Contamination and Remediation– Studying naturally occurring (geogenic) and anthropogenic contaminants, in aquifers and exploring sustainable in-situ mitigation strategies.
Publications
Journals
- Sujathan, S., Gopakumar, T., Singh, A. (2025). Impact of Manganese Carbonate Precipitation on Uranium(VI) Fate in Conditions Relevant to Carbonate-Buffered Aquifers. Langmuir, 41(1), 140-151. [More Information]
- Sujathan, S., Singh, A. (2023). Investigation of Potential Drivers of Elevated Uranium Prevalence in Indian Groundwaters with a Unified Speciation Model. Environmental Science & Technology, 57(5), 1970-1986. [More Information]
- Mohapatra, A., Sujathan, S., Ekamparam, A., Singh, A. (2021). The Role of Manganese Carbonate Precipitation in Controlling Fluoride and Uranium Mobilization in Groundwater. ACS Earth and Space Chemistry, 5(10), 2700-2714. [More Information]
2025
- Sujathan, S., Gopakumar, T., Singh, A. (2025). Impact of Manganese Carbonate Precipitation on Uranium(VI) Fate in Conditions Relevant to Carbonate-Buffered Aquifers. Langmuir, 41(1), 140-151. [More Information]
2023
- Sujathan, S., Singh, A. (2023). Investigation of Potential Drivers of Elevated Uranium Prevalence in Indian Groundwaters with a Unified Speciation Model. Environmental Science & Technology, 57(5), 1970-1986. [More Information]
2021
- Mohapatra, A., Sujathan, S., Ekamparam, A., Singh, A. (2021). The Role of Manganese Carbonate Precipitation in Controlling Fluoride and Uranium Mobilization in Groundwater. ACS Earth and Space Chemistry, 5(10), 2700-2714. [More Information]
2017
- Sujathan, S., Kniggendorf, A., Kumar, A., Roth, B., Rosenwinkel, K., Nogueira, R. (2017). Heat and Bleach: A Cost-Efficient Method for Extracting Microplastics from Return Activated Sludge. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 73(4), 641-648. [More Information]