Surya Sujathan is an environmental engineer specializing in emerging contaminants, mineral-water processes, and contaminant transport modeling. Their research focuses on the fate and transport of microplastics, heavy metals, and radionuclides in natural and engineered systems, integrating experimental investigations with predictive modeling approaches. They have made significant contributions to understanding uranium mobilization in groundwater, the kinetics of mineral precipitation in contaminated waters, and the behavior of microplastics in soils and wastewater systems. Their work spans laboratory experiments, field investigations, and advanced analytical techniques, including XANES, HRTEM, SEM, XPS, Raman spectroscopy, and nanoparticle tracking, combined with geochemical and transport modeling using software such as Visual Minteq, The Geochemist’s Workbench, and CXTFIT. They have published in high-impact journals and presented at leading international conferences, highlighting the interplay between mineralogical processes and contaminant dynamics. Their academic training encompasses environmental and civil engineering, emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches to water quality, pollutant fate, and sustainable treatment strategies. In addition to research, they have experience in teaching and mentoring across courses in surface water quality modeling, solid-water interfacial processes, hazardous waste management, and computational methods, and have been involved in laboratory instruction and advanced instrumentation analysis. Their work has been recognized with awards for innovative research and early career contributions, reflecting a commitment to advancing the understanding of environmental processes and promoting sustainable solutions to emerging contamination challenges. Overall, their career is characterized by integrating experimental, modeling, and applied approaches to address pressing environmental issues and contribute to safe and sustainable management of water and soil resources. They have 145 citations by 142 documents, with 8 documents and an h-index of 3.

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Featured Publications

Sujathan, S., Kniggendorf, A. K., Kumar, A., Roth, B., & Rosenwinkel, K. H. (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.

Mohapatra, A. K., Sujathan, S., Ekamparam, A. S. S., & 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.

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.

Mathur, M., Choudhary, P., Sujathan, S., Naaz, F., Trenado-Yuste, C., & Malik, A. (2024). A biologically driven model for rural wastewater management: Feasibility and efficiency of algal-bacterial biofilm reactors for combined treatment and algae farming. Frontiers in Water, 6, 1430900.

Ekamparam, A. S. S., Sujathan, S., & Singh, A. (2024). Kinetics of fluorapatite precipitation in fluoride-contaminated water. ACS ES&T Engineering, 4(10), 2370–2380.