Dr. Sadrekarimi's research interests are in the areas of geotechnical engineering, soil dynamics and geotechnical earthquake engineering, in-situ testing techniques, and advanced soil mechanics laboratory tests. His research helps to design safer structures and stabilize slopes and foundations. A particularly impactful area of this research is the safety of mine tailings dams. Tailings dams contain mine waste tailings following the extraction of valuable minerals and resources such as gold, copper, and bitumen. Because of their very large size, loose deposition and high-water content, tailings dams are highly susceptible to failure and instability, as shown by the recent tailings dam failures in Brazil. Sadrekarimi's research aims to understand the strength of mine tailings and methods to improve their strength so more stable tailings dams can be built. 

One of the innovative aspects of his current research is the use of non-pathogenic urease-producing microbes to cement soil and mine tailings. This technique results in significant improvements in soil and tailings shear strength.