PhD defence by Satish Pawar

On Thursday, 27 November 2025, at 13:00 (CET), Satish Pawar from DTU Aqua will defend his PhD thesis “Eelgrass habitat mapping in Danish coastal waters: a remote sensing perspective”.

You can follow the defence online in Zoom via this link or in person at DTU Lyngby Campus, 2800 Kongens Lyngby in building 303, auditorium 44.

In his PhD thesis, Satish Pawar uses a combination of satellite images, drone and airplane photography, and advanced computational analysis to better understand the status of eelgrass in Danish coastal waters and what environmental factors influence its survival. Eelgrass meadows are vital underwater habitats along the North Atlantic coasts but have declined drastically over the past century.

By combining high-tech mapping with machine learning, Satish Pawar demonstrates that areas with optimum light and water conditions for eelgrass can be estimated at fine scale and high precision. The study also shows that open-source data and new technologies can make it easier and more affordable to monitor these important habitats over time.

Satish Pawar’s findings can help scientists and environmental managers identify the best places for eelgrass restoration and build supporting strategies to protect and restore Denmark’s coastal ecosystems in a sustainable way.

Examiners

• Professor Colin Stedmon, DTU Aqua (chair)
• Senior Researcher Dimitry Van der Zande, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Belgium
• Senior Researcher Lisbeth Nielsen, DHI A/S, Denmark

Chair at defence

• Associate Professor Mikael van Deurs, DTU Aqua

Supervisors

• Principal Supervisor: Professor Karen Timmermann, DTU Aqua
• Co-supervisor: Professor Jens Kjerulf Petersen, DTU Aqua