Pratiksha Srivastava

Dr. Pratiksha Srivastava is Assistant Professor at IE University. She was a McKenzie Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne, where she led cutting-edge research on sustainable wastewater treatment technologies. Her current work focuses on the role of pyrogenic carbon in nutrient cycling and the development of innovative, low-energy systems for complete pollutants removal.

Dr. Srivastava holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Tasmania (Australia), where her doctoral research was recognized with the Best PhD Thesis Award by the Royal Society of Tasmania. Her PhD work pioneered the integration of microbial fuel cells into constructed wetlands to enhance pollutant removal and energy recovery. She was the first to report electrode-dependent ammonium oxidation under anaerobic conditions in these hybrid systems, a significant advancement in the field of microbial electrochemical technologies. In recognition of her global contributions to sustainability science, she received the Green Talent Award from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

During her PhD, she served as a visiting researcher at the Technical University of Braunschweig (Germany) funded by German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and was also awarded the Nuffic Fellowship by the Netherlands Government to undertake specialized training at UNESCO-IHE, Delft, in constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment—an experience that shaped her ongoing commitment to nature-based solutions.

Dr. Srivastava has held postdoctoral research positions at leading Spanish institutions, including IMDEA Energy and Rey Juan Carlos University, where she worked on bioplastics, biohydrogen production, and microbial electrochemical systems. 

Throughout her career, Dr. Srivastava has secured several prestigious fellowships and competitive research grants, including the McKenzie Research Fellowship and the CBE Accelerate Grant from the University of Melbourne, Australia, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship (offered), and Project grant from Department of Science and Technology, India. These accolades reflect her strong international standing and commitment to research excellence.

Her scholarly contributions include over 25 peer-reviewed journal articles published in high-impact international journals, along with 15 book chapters and 8 conference papers. She has co- edited books on microbial electrochemical technologies and Emerging Developments in Constructed Wetlands with Elsevier. In addition, she has two patents for integrated constructed wetland systems that combine efficient pollutant treatment with energy recovery. She has successfully supervised six master's students and one Ph.D. scholar ongoing and currently leads independent research projects.

Dr. Srivastava’s work bridges environmental engineering, microbial electrochemistry, and sustainable development, with the aim of creating scalable and energy-efficient solutions to address global water and environmental challenges.

Academic Experience

• Assistant Professor, Environmental Sciences, IE University, Spain, 2025-Present
• McKenzie Research Fellow at the Chemical engineering department, The University of Melbourne, Australia, 2023-2025
• Postdoctoral researcher at Biotechnology & electrochemical department, IMDEA Energy, Madrid, Spain, 2022-2023
• Postdoctoral researcher at chemical & environmental engineering department, Rey Juan Calos University, Madrid, Spain, 2021-2022
• Research Assistant (Part-time) at Australian Maritime College, University of Tasmania Australia, 2017-2018
• Junior Research Fellow at Environment & Sustainability department, CSIR-Institute of Minerals & Materials Technology, Bhubaneswar, India, 2015-2017
• Project Assistant at Environment & Sustainability department, CSIR-Institute of Minerals & Materials Technology, Bhubaneswar, India, 2014-2015

Academic Background

• PhD in Environmental Engineering, University of Tasmania, Australia, 2017-2021
• Short course on “Constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment”, UNESCO-IHE, Delft, The Netherlands, 2017
• Master of Technology (Discipline: Biotechnology), JVWU, Jaipur, India, 2014
• Bachelor of Technology (Discipline: Biotechnology), JVWU, Jaipur, India, 2012

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGs)

3- Good Health and Well-Being

6- Clean Water and Sanitation

9- Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure