About Me

Biography

I am Dr. Shekhar Sharan Goyal, currently working as a Research Scientist at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Leipzig, Germany. My work bridges agricultural nutrient management, ecohydrology, and geospatial modeling to promote sustainable and climate-resilient food systems.

Appointments

• Research Scientist , Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Leipzig, Germany (2025–present)

Education

• Ph.D., Earth Sciences – Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (2020–2024, submitted)
  Advisor: Prof. Udit Bhatia | Focus: Nutrient pollution and agri-trade sustainability
• M.Sc., Geology – Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (2016–2018)
  Advisor: Prof. Abhijit Mukherjee
• B.Sc., Geology – Banaras Hindu University (2013–2016)

Research Experience

• Research Scientist, UFZ Leipzig (2025–Present)
  Stream-temperature modeling (FluSeeQ) and nutrient management modeling
• Visiting Researcher, UFZ Leipzig (Aug–Dec 2023)
  Developed district-scale nitrogen surplus dataset for Indian agriculture
• Summer Intern, WIHG (2017)
  Structural geology and neotectonic mapping in the Himalayas

Research Interests

• Nitrogen & phosphorus pollution in agriculture
• Ecohydrology and climate-resilient cropping
• Agro-trade networks and environmental footprints
• Stream temperature dynamics and water stress
• Policy design for sustainable agriculture

Grants & Distinctions

• Helmholtz Benchmark Projects – UNLOCK 2026, Principal Investigator (2025) – Secured €108.508,00 funding for AI sustainability benchmarking project
• EGU Outstanding Student and PhD Candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award (2025)
• Overseas Research Fellowship, IIT Gandhinagar (2023)
• CSIR-NET (Lectureship) – AIR 15 in Geology (2019)
• GATE – 98.7 percentile in Earth Sciences (2019)
• JAM – 98.5 percentile in Geology (2016)

Session Convenerships

• 2026 – Convener, “Advances in Extreme Weather Impacts on Networked Systems” (NH1.2), European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly, Vienna, Austria.
• 2025 – Convener, “From Hazards to Resilience: Preparing Infrastructure for Evolving and Interdependent Risks”, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria.

Mentoring & Advising

Postdoctoral Researchers

• Masooma Batool — Postdoctoral Researcher (Jan 2026–Dec 2026) (UNLOCK project; primary mentor/supervisor)

Visiting Researcher scientist

• Adrija Datta — Visiting Ph.D. Scholar, IIT Gandhinagar (2026) (IITGN overseas visiting scheme; research advisor/host mentor)

Master’s / Graduate Researchers

• Shaonli — Master’s/Graduate Thesis, IIT Gandhinagar (thesis co-supervision/mentoring)
• Nihal — Research Assistant / Graduate Researcher, University of Leipzig (UNLOCK project; research supervision/mentoring)
• Perinban Parameshwaran — Research Assistant / Graduate Researcher (UNLOCK project; research supervision/mentoring)

Research Projects

• OCPC — Bilateral Collaboration Project (2026–2027) — Co-PI
  Co-supervising a Ph.D. project on multi-pollutant, spatially explicit water-quality modelling (historical evolution to future scenario assessments).
• In4Nile — Advancing Water Quality Information in the Nile River Basin (2026–2028) — Co-PI
  Co-supervising a Ph.D. project on multi-pollutant, spatially explicit water-quality modelling (historical evolution to future scenario assessments).
• UNLOCK — Helmholtz Benchmark Project (2025) — Principal Investigator
  Leading a one-year project to develop AI sustainability benchmarking datasets leveraging Helmholtz data assets to advance model evaluation for environmental sustainability research.
• FluSeeQ — Stream Temperature & Hydrologic Forecasting across Germany (2025–2028)
  Investigating stream-temperature dynamics and hydrological forecasting to support climate adaptation across German river networks.
• AquaSub — Satellite-based River Temperature Modelling (2025–2027)
  Developing satellite-informed models to predict river temperature dynamics and assess impacts on aquatic ecosystems in Germany.
• C-Narmada — Agricultural & Nutrient Dynamics in the Narmada Basin (2023–2024)
  Assessing agricultural practices and nutrient fluxes in the Narmada Basin to inform sustainable farming and water-quality management.

Projects Submitted

• STEEL — DFG proposal (under review)

Teaching & Field Experience

Teaching

• Lab Teaching Assistant, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN)
  • Earth Surface Processes in the Anthropocene (2024)
  • River Morphology and Ecology (2023)
  • Modeling Earth System and Sustainability (2022)
  • Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Development (2020)

Field Campaigns

• Surat region field course, IIT Gandhinagar (2022)
• Varanasi and surrounding areas, IIT Kharagpur (2017)

Publications

• Goyal, S.S. et al. (2024). Indian interstate trade exacerbates nutrient pollution. Communications Earth & Environment.
• Goyal, S.S. et al. (2024). District-scale nitrogen surplus dataset for Indian agriculture. Scientific Data.
• Under Review:Goyal, S.S. et al. (2025). Nutrient-Centric Restructuring in Indian Agriculture. Nature Communications.
• Under Review: Goyal, S.S. et al. (2026). Rising Disparity in Sustainable Nitrogen Management Across Indian Croplands.
• Under Review: Goyal, S.S. et al. (2026). Trends in an Environmental Nitrogen Management Index across Europe reveal progress since 1980s but also required considerable improvements.

Conference Presentations

• Oral presentation – Goyal, S.S., et al. (2024). “Agricultural Pollution in Indian Interstate Trade Networks.” European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly 2024 (EGU24).
• Oral presentation – Bhatia, U., Goyal, S.S., & Kumar, R. (2023). “Restructuring the Indian Agricultural System towards Sustainability.” European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly 2023.
• Poster presentation – Goyal, S.S., & Bhatia, U. (2023). “Trade-driven Greenhouse Gas Emissions in India.” European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly 2023.
• Poster presentation – Goyal, S.S., & Bhatia, U. (2021). “Urbanization Impact on Urban River Water Quality.” American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting 2021.

Service

• Peer review (journals): Nature Sustainability; Scientific Reports; Earth's Future; Communications Earth & Environment
• Conference organisation: Session convener, EGU General Assembly (2025, 2026)

Skills

• Programming: Python, R, MATLAB, LaTeX
• Geospatial & Hydrological Tools: ArcGIS, QGIS, SWAT, HEC-RAS
• Languages: English, Hindi

Workshop Organizer

• - “Resilience of Power and Allied Lifeline Infrastructure Systems,” Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN), 2022.
• – “From Lab to Land: Technology Transfer for Farmers,” Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN), 2024.
• – Prithvi (Earth Sciences Student Society), Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, 2017.

Collaborative Network