Dr. Swapan K. Sahoo is a strategic exploration geoscientist working at the intersection of subsurface science, emerging technologies and evolving energy systems. He translates complex technical signals into actionable insights and has advanced lithium projects from greenfield evaluation toward asset realisation by integrating geological, commercial and market perspectives. As Principal Geologist at Equinor US, he has led subsurface work on lithium and other critical minerals, including the Smackover partnership with Standard Lithium. He also advises carbon dioxide removal initiatives on technology assessment and long-horizon innovation, serves as Executive Director of SHRI, a non-profit advancing interdisciplinary energy research, and is Professor in Practice (honorary) at TERI. He is known for multidisciplinary integration, uncertainty-aware decision frameworks and informed points of view that guide technology scouting and portfolio strategy.
Dr. Sahoo holds a PhD from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, on Ediacaran Ocean redox evolution, a Master's in Tectonics and Sedimentation from Tulane University, and Master's and Bachelor's degrees in Structural Geology from the University of Calcutta. His research spans stable-isotope and trace-metal geochemistry, ocean redox history, black shales and critical-element resources, with publications in Nature, Nature Communications, Geology and Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. He served as Associate Editor of Marine and Petroleum Geology (2020–2024), is a Research Associate at the Bureau of Economic Geology, UT Austin, and is Theme Chair (Earth Resources and Energy) for Goldschmidt 2026.
Publications:
1. Sahoo, S. K., Planavsky, N. J., Kendall, B., Wang, X., Shi, X., Scott, C., Anbar, A. D., Lyons, T. W., Jiang, G. (2012). Ocean oxygenation in the wake of the Marinoan glaciation. Nature, 489, 546–549.
2. Sahoo, S. K., Planavsky, N. J., Jiang, G., Kendall, B., Owens, J. D., Wang, X., Shi, X., Anbar, A. D., Lyons, T. W. (2016). Oceanic oxygenation events in the anoxic Ediacaran ocean. Geobiology, 14(5), 457–468.
3. Ostrander, C. M., Sahoo, S. K., Kendall, B., Jiang, G., Planavsky, N. J., Lyons, T. W., et al. (2019). Multiple negative molybdenum isotope excursions in the Doushantuo Formation (South China) fingerprint complex redox-related processes in the Ediacaran Nanhua Basin. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 261, 191–209.
4. Farrell, Ú. C., Samawi, R., Anjanappa, S., Klykov, R., Adeboye, O. O., Agic, H., et al. [incl. Sahoo, S. K.] (2021). The Sedimentary Geochemistry and Paleoenvironments Project. Geobiology, 19(6), 545–556.
5. Gilleaudeau, G. J., Sahoo, S. K., Kah, L. C., Henderson, M. A., Kaufman, A. J. (2018). Proterozoic carbonates of the Vindhyan Basin, India: Chemostratigraphy and diagenesis. Gondwana Research, 57, 10–25.
6. Ostrander, C. M., Owens, J. D., Nielsen, S. G., Lyons, T. W., Shu, Y., Chen, X., et al. [incl. Sahoo, S. K.] (2020). Thallium isotope ratios in shales from South China and northwestern Canada suggest widespread O2 accumulation in marine bottom waters was an uncommon occurrence during the Ediacaran Period. Chemical Geology, 557, 119856.
7. Sahoo, S. K., Gilleaudeau, G. J., Wilson, K., Hart, B., Barnes, B. D., Faison, T., et al. (2023). Basin-scale reconstruction of euxinia and Late Devonian mass extinctions. Nature, 615(7953), 640–645. 8. Gilleaudeau, G. J., Sahoo, S. K., Ostrander, C. M., Owens, J. D., Poulton, S. W., Lyons, T. W., Anbar, A. D. (2020). Molybdenum isotope and trace metal signals in an iron-rich Mesoproterozoic ocean: A snapshot from the Vindhyan Basin, India. Precambrian Research, 343, 105718.
9. Zheng, W., Zhou, A., Sahoo, S. K., Nolan, M. R., Ostrander, C. M., Sun, R., Anbar, A. D., et al. (2023). Recurrent photic zone euxinia limited ocean oxygenation and animal evolution during the Ediacaran. Nature Communications, 14(1), 3920.
10. Zheng, W., Gilleaudeau, G. J., Algeo, T. J., Zhao, Y., Song, Y., Zhang, Y., Sahoo, S. K., et al. (2023). Mercury isotope evidence for recurrent photic-zone euxinia triggered by enhanced terrestrial nutrient inputs during the Late Devonian mass extinction. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 613, 118175.
