Rajendra is an early-career researcher and lecturer with a strong interest in Biogeochemistry and its application to addressing a range of environmental challenges for societal benefit. His research primarily focuses on the use of biomarker molecular compositions (such as lipids and lignin phenols), alongside stable and radioactive carbon isotopes, to explore the origins, cycling and fate of organic matter in wetlands. He also has experience in sediment provenance studies, utilizing radiogenic isotopes of Strontium (Sr), and Neodymium (Nd). Rajendra is eager to expand his research and is actively seeking collaborations in the areas of Biogeochemistry, Paleolimnology/Paleoclimatology, and Environmental Pollution.
Before joining IHE Delft in 2025, Rajendra gained valuable experience as a lecturer in Environmental Science at Kathmandu University, Nepal, from 2014 to 2018. From 2018 to 2023, he coordinated the collaborative research project at Linköping University titled “Fate of Organic Carbon in Small Mountain Rivers in the Nepal Himalayas: Implications for Soil Erosion and Climate Change,” funded by the Swedish Research Council. This project was also part of his PhD research, in which he investigated how mountain rivers, as reactive systems, process, mobilize, and transform organic matter. Additionally, Rajendra served as a Research Assistant at the Western Australian Organic & Isotope Geochemistry Centre in Perth, Australia, where he contributed to developing analytical protocols for quantifying lignin phenols in fossil sediment samples.
Rajendra holds a B.Sc. in Environmental Science from Tribhuvan University, an M.Sc. in Environment and Natural Resources from Kathmandu University, Nepal, and a PhD in Environmental Science from Linköping University, Sweden, which he completed in 2023.