SDG 15.1Research for forests, wildlife and soils
UPES research supports Himalayan forests, wildlife and farmland, from fire detection and habitat mapping to medicinal plants and organic farming, and develops biological ways to clean polluted soil and water.
The figures below cover UPES research publications on land, forests, soils and biodiversity from 2021 to 2025 (source: Scopus, October 2026).
230life-on-land research publications, 2021–2025
4,569citations to these papers
19.9citations per paper
146journal articles and reviews
What the research covers
Number of 2021–2025 papers on each theme (a paper can appear under more than one).
| Theme | Papers |
|---|
| Bioremediation and pollution clean-up | 106 |
| Biodiversity, forests and wildlife | 93 |
| Biochar, biomass and waste to value | 79 |
| Soil, land use and agriculture | 62 |
| Wastewater, microalgae and bioresources | 50 |
| Climate change | 18 |
| Remote sensing and GIS | 13 |
Most cited work on land and ecosystems
- Organic wastes bioremediation and its changing prospects (Science of the Total Environment, 2022), cited 241 times.
- Microalgae-based wastewater treatment – Microalgae-bacteria consortia, multi-omics approaches and algal stress response (Science of the Total Environment, 2022), cited 151 times.
- Multifunctional applications of bamboo crop beyond environmental management: an Indian prospective (Bioengineered, 2022), cited 114 times.
- Sustainable microalgal biomass production in food industry wastewater for low-cost biorefinery products: a review (Phytochemistry Reviews, 2023), cited 114 times.
- Strategies for biological treatment of waste water: A critical review (Journal of Cleaner Production, 2024), cited 113 times.
The full list of 314 publications since 2013, with links, is on the life-on-land research publications page (also available as a spreadsheet).
Research spotlights
Mapping habitats at Kuno National Park
From 26 April to 5 May 2025, five students from the HERE Technologies Centre of Excellence in the School of Computer Science worked with the Wildlife Institute of India, walking 2-kilometre transects to log animal sightings and GPS coordinates and surveying vegetation plots every 400 metres, to support habitat-density models.
UPES blog · Read more
Forest fires and mountain hazards
UPES SEED research projects study forest fire burning in Uttarakhand and its impact on the environment, and IoT-based early detection of flash floods and landslides in the Himalaya.
SEED projects (PDF) · Read more
Medicinal and aromatic plants
The Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Laboratory, with its polyhouses and nurseries, trains and supports rural women farmers in nearby villages to grow tulsi, chamomile, lemongrass and stevia.
UPES SDG blog · Read more
More research
- Wildlife. UPES was a contributing organisation to the Leopard Report 2018 released by the Government of India.
- The value of nature. Dr Mohammad Younus Bhat researches the economic value of Himalayan biodiversity in national parks and wetlands, and visitors' preferences for biodiversity conservation in Rajaji National Park (2025).
- Healthier soils. Researchers turn organic waste into biochar and study bioremediation of polluted soil and water, and a microalgae wastewater plant produces bio-manure.
- Social innovation for farming. The BIRAC-funded SWACHH Incubation Centre, led by Dr Nidhi Chauhan, mentors innovators working on climate-resilient agriculture and sustainable food systems.
Sources and further reading