Research Student
Academic Division: Civil Engineering
Research group: Geotechnical and Environmental
Email: sg2009@cam.ac.uk
Research interests
- Earth Observation and Remote Sensing: Leveraging remote sensing and advanced geospatial techniques to monitor environmental changes.
- Hydrometeorological Hazards and Water Interventions: Studying ponds, wetlands, and river restorations to mitigate water risks and enhance climate resilience.
- Causal Analysis and Machine Learning: Applying causal methods and AI to evaluate the effectiveness of environmental solutions.
Research projects
For list of completed projects please visit GoogleScholar ResearchGate
1. Flood Detection and Mapping in Arid Regions:
- Unlocking the full potential of Sentinel-1 for flood detection in arid regions
- Improving SAR-based flood detection in arid regions using texture features
2. Automatic Flood Detection using Deep Learning
- Flood detection from Sentinel-1 data
- Automatic Flood Detection from Sentinel-1 Data Using a Nested UNet Model and a NASA Benchmark Dataset
3. Ground Subsidence Mapping using Satellite Interferometry
- Tracking hidden crisis in India’s capital from space: implications of unsustainable groundwater use
- Multi-sensor remote sensing analysis of coal fire induced land subsidence in Jharia Coalfields, Jharkhand, India
Biography
Shagun Garg is a doctoral researcher at the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Future Infrastructure and Built Environment (FIBE2 CDT) within the Department of Engineering, supervised by Dr. Sivasakthy Selvakumaran and Dr. Edoardo Borgomeo. His research lies at the intersection of monitoring Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for hydrometeorological hazards and Earth observation. Shagun’s work focuses on assessing the effectiveness of water-related interventions—such as ponds, lakes, river restoration, wetlands, and peatlands—by leveraging remote sensing technologies. Through mapping and monitoring these ecosystems, he applies causal analysis methods to evaluate how these interventions mitigate environmental risks.
Currently, Shagun is working as a Helmholtz AI fellow at the Remote Sensing Section of the Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam, Germany. In this role, he is utilizing high-resolution satellite imagery to monitor small-scale interventions, focusing on detailed spatial analysis to track changes in water systems and understand the effectiveness of local environmental solutions in addressing hydrometeorological risks.
Shagun holds a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Pantnagar University and a master's degree in technology with a specialization in remote sensing from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. During his master's program, he was awarded the prestigious DAAD fellowship, which allowed him to conduct his thesis research at the Institute of Photogrammetry and Geoinformation, Leibniz University of Hannover, Germany. Following this, he worked as a researcher at the GFZ Potsdam, where he applied Earth observation and machine learning techniques to study geohazards. Shagun has also been fortunate to receive scholarships, including the Ministry of Higher Development Resources (MHRD) Postgraduate Scholarship, the Foundation for Excellence Scholarship, and the Uttarakhand Government TFW Undergraduate Scholarship, which have supported his academic journey and research endeavors.
Science Communication and Public Engagement
Shagun is actively engaged in science communication, aiming to make his research topics accessible to broader audiences. He has written articles for prominent platforms such as The Wire (Science), India Water Portal, and Westermann. His work has also been featured in leading publications and media outlets, including BBC, Mongobay, Times of India, Nature India, Aaj Tak among others. Shagun has presented his research at numerous national and international conferences, supported by prestigious travel grants such as the EGU Travel Grant, MIGARS Travel Grant, and the Helmholtz AI Grant. He has also received Outstanding Presentation award at the IEEE Machine Intelligence for GeoAnalytics and Remote Sensing (MIGARS) 2023 Conference.
In addition to his research and outreach, Shagun regularly serves as a peer reviewer for renowned journals in remote sensing and environmental science, including Remote Sensing of Environment (RSE), ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation (JAG), IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing (TGRS), Natural Hazards, and GIS and Remote Sensing.
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Department role and responsibilities