People / Alumni

Sharada Prasad Chitradurga Srinivasa Murthy

When the Pit Fills Up: Fecal Sludge “Management” in Urban India (PhD ’18) Sharada’s research is focused on recovery of nutrients, primarily Phosphorous, from human waste, particularly septage, and their reuse in Indian agriculture. His work focuses on under­stand­ing poli­cies and reg­u­la­tions that encourage businesses to facil­i­tate reuse of septage as fertilizer. He is interested in knowing why some farmers do not use fae­cal sludge irrespective of its high nutrient value. He is exploring frameworks to quan­ti­fy­ the micro­bial risks involved in collection and reuse of septage, and estimate poten­tial Phos­pho­rous and Nitro­gen that can be aug­mented by reuse. His research also encom­passes social and envi­ron­men­tal jus­tice issues aris­ing out of caste based dis­crim­i­na­tion in India. He uses photography to communicate his research. Links: Contact: sharadaprasad@berkeley.edu