Dr. Rahul Sharma — is former Chief Scientist at India’s CSIR–National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, India. With more than 40 years of experience exploring and assessing marine minerals, Dr. Sharma is among the world’s foremost experts in deep-sea mining research. He holds a Master’s degree in Geology and a Doctorate in Marine Science, and his work has helped define India’s marine mineral program since its inception in the early 1980s.

He has published 38 scientific papers, 41 technical reports, 27 articles, and presented over 60 conference papers.

He has also edited five major Springer volumes on deep-sea mining, bringing together experts from across disciplines:

* Deep-Sea Mining (2017) Resource Potential, Technical and Environmental Considerations

* Environmental Issues of Deep-Sea Mining (2019) Impacts, Consequences and Policy Perspectives

* Perspectives on Deep-Sea Mining (2022) Sustainability, Technology, Environmental Policy and Management

* Deep-Sea Mining and the Water Column (2024) Advances, Monitoring and Related Issues

* Deep-Sea Mining: Management, Policy and Regulation (2025) Data Management, Environmental Monitoring, Techno-Economic Assessment, Law of the Sea and Regulatory Regimes

Follow Dr. Sharma on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahul-sharma-22405639

Chapters

00:00 Intro & Rahul’s background06:30 Finding India’s area: from papers to pixels to permits09:50 Geology & grades: Indian Ocean vs CCZ19:30 Japan, Saudi, India—different capabilities, different goals22:55 India’s need, portfolio, and who’s building what40:00 Hype vs. history: how attention ramped51:10 Tech deep dive: platform/collector/riser and AUV shuttles59:10 Impact experiments & mitigation by design1:14:20 Need, scale, and making hard choices1:20:10 Rahul’s latest books & where to follow

Theme Music Tamarack by Jesse Matas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1s1eD4F31A&list=RDw1s1eD4F31A&start_radio=1

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