Bhumika Sharma

Defence Chemistry researcher with over 5 years of laboratory-based experience in explosives and energetic materials, specialising in the environmental fate and risk evaluation of legacy and sea-dumped munitions. Expertise in TNT dissolution, adsorption, transformation, and remediation under controlled marine and aqueous conditions, supporting evidence-based UXO risk and clearance decision frameworks. Experienced in high-hazard laboratory environments, defence-aligned research protocols and scientific communication, with multiple peer-reviewed publications in leading international journals.

• Authored and co-authored 9 peer-reviewed publications in high-impact international journals (SCI/E Q1 indexed) and conferences
• International field-based research exposure to ALKOR 622 Monitoring Expedition, Baltic Sea – GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, Germany (2024)
• Certified ISO/IEC 17025:2017- General Requirements for the competency of Testing and Calibration Laboratories (2020)
• Qualified National level examinations: Forensic Aptitude and Caliber Test Plus (FACT-Plus, 2022); University Grant Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET, 2019)

• Analytical and wet chemistry for explosives detection and quantification
• High-hazard laboratory experimentation under defence protocols
• Experimental design, data interpretation & evidence generation
• Risk evaluation and the development of practical risk assessment framework for UXO and legacy munitions clearance

• Awarded a fully funded PhD scholarship sponsored by DNV Energy Systems and Cranfield University, UK, 2023-01-01
• Received Commendable Research Award from Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University, India, 2024-01-01
• Awarded Junior Research Fellowship by Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University, Delhi, India, 2023-01-01
• Best Oral Presentation awarded at International Conference on “Natural Science and Green Technologies for Sustainable Development”, 2022-01-01

• PhD, Defence & Security (Defence Chemistry), Cranfield University, Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, 2023-10-01, Present
• Doctoral Researcher, Defence-linked Project (CFEES, DRDO-IGDTUW), India, 2022-08-01, 2023-08-01
• Research Trainee, Explosives & Environmental Safety, Centre for Fire, Explosive and Environment Safety (CFEES), Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO), 2021-01-01, 2022-07-01
• MSc, Forensic Science (Forensic Chemistry & Toxicology), Ministry of Home Affairs, India, 8.62/10, 2018-08-01, 2020-09-01
• BSc, Life Sciences, University of Delhi, India, First Class, 2014-07-01, 2017-05-01

• Explosives & the Environment Course, 5 days, Cranfield University, 2023-12-01
• Maritime & Underwater Munitions Course, 5 days, Cranfield University, 2023-11-01

• Day-to-day technical mentoring of 4 MSc research projects, 2024-2025
• Environmental management of a military training area using a conceptual site model: a case study from Malta, 2025-01-01
• Application of Rice Husk Biochar for In-situ stabilisation of energetic compounds within sandy substrates, 2025-01-01
• Comparative study of the environmental impacts of Low-Order and High-Order techniques in water, 2024-01-01
• Quantifying explosive residues distributed by High Order detonations in a freshwater environment, 2024-01-01
• Guest Lecturer, Remediation of Sea-Dumped Munitions, MSc Explosive Ordnance Engineering, Cranfield University, 2025-12-01
• Teaching experience in Environmental Chemistry, Biology, and applied science subjects at senior secondary and undergraduate level, 2015-04-01, 2017-04-01
• Teaching experience in Environmental Chemistry, Biology, and applied science subjects at senior secondary and undergraduate level, 2022-08-01, 2023-08-01

• Internship, Forensic Chemistry and Toxicology Department of State Forensic Science Laboratory, Delhi, India, 2018-01-01
• Library Casual Assistant, Cranfield University, 2024-01-01, Present
• Student Ambassador, Cranfield University, 2024-01-01, 2025-01-01
• Content Developer, 2017-01-01, 2018-01-01
• Volunteer, Rotaract Club, 2015-01-01, 2017-01-01

• Sadler, J., Movshovitz, M., Persico, F., Mai, N., Fernandez-Lopez, C. F., Sen, N., Humphreys, L., … & Sharma, B. (2026). Controlled experiments on dissolution and remediation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene in distilled water and seawater. Heliyon, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2025.e44241
• Sharma, B. & Gadi, R. (2025). Analytical tools and methods for explosive analysis in forensics: A critical review. Critical Reviews in Analytical Chemistry, 55(2), 251–277. https://doi.org/10.1080/10408347.2023.2274927
• Sharma, B., Wardrop, J., Persico, F., Webb, S., Coulon, F., & Temple, T. (2025). Environmental impacts of low and high order detonations in water. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 495, 139140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.139140
• Sharma, B. (2025). Field-based risk assessment of sea-dumped munitions: insights from the ALKOR 622 monitoring expedition in the Baltic Sea. Journal of Institute of Explosive Engineering. https://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/bitstreams/82cadd62-1b26-4a51-a71a-e6150c6c787f/download
• Mary Celin, S., Sharma, B., Bhanot, P., Kalsi, A., Sahai, S., & Tanwar, R. K. (2023). Trends in environmental monitoring of high explosives present in soil/sediment/groundwater using LC-MS/MS. Mass Spectrometry Reviews, 42(5), 1727–1771. https://doi.org/10.1002/mas.21778
• Munjal, P., Sharma, B., Sethi, J. R., Dalal, A., & Gholap, S. L. (2021). Identification and analysis of organic explosives from post-blast debris by nuclear magnetic resonance. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 403, 124003. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124003
• Persico, F., Sharma, B., Webb, S., Coulon, F., & Temple, T. (2024). Efficacy of activated carbons and biochar for underwater remediation of TNT contamination. In AVT-394-RSM on Water Sampling, Monitoring and Control/Remediation (NATO STO MP-AVT-394, pp. 10-1 – 10-10). https://publications.sto.nato.int/publications/STO%20Meeting%20Proceedings/STO-MP-AVT-394/MP-AVT-394-10.pdf
• Webb, S., Sharma, B., Temple, T., & Coulon, F. (2024). Comparative sampling methodologies for detecting and quantifying 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene post-blast traces in water. https://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/bitstreams/07ccd955-068c-485f-8fc8-8700fc9071ea/download
• Sharma, B., Webb, S., Temple, T., & Coulon, F. (2025). Environmental concerns when utilizing detonation as the clearance method for dumped munitions. https://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/bitstreams/2ce741c5-a81d-4487-9c4a-782c90e43a86/download