Dr. Bharat Sharma Acharya is the Research Director of the Rodale Institute Southeast Organic Center. His research interests include organic farming, regenerative agriculture, hydrology and water quality, irrigation systems, and unmanned aerial vehicles. His primary focus is on the interactions between plants, soil, and water, with particular emphasis on soil health, cover crops, agricultural sustainability, and environmental stewardship. He holds a B.Sc. in Agriculture from Tribhuvan University (Nepal), an M.Sc. in Agro-Environmental Management from Aarhus University (Denmark), and a Ph.D. in Natural Resource Ecology and Management from the Oklahoma State University (USA). Before joining Rodale, he served as a senior research associate with the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), Ada Oklahoma through the highly competitive Research Associateship Award from the National Research Council and National Academy of Sciences. He also served as a senior hydrologist in the Oklahoma Department of Mines during 2019–2021. He is an active member of the Regenerative Organic Rice Taskforce with the Regenerative Organic Alliance. Further, he serves as an Associate Editor for the Soil Science Society of America Journal and Technical Editor for the Water Journal. He has received the prestigious 2022 Education and Public Service Award from Universities Council on Water Resources and the 2021 Outstanding Associate Editor Award from the Agronomy Journal, American Society of Agronomy.
Dr. Pradip Saud is an Assistant Professor in the College of Forestry, Agriculture, and Natural Resources, University of Arkansas at Monticello. He earned his Ph.D. in Forest Biometrics from Oklahoma State University, USA, an MS in Forest Resources from West Virginia University, USA, and a B.S. in Forestry from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. His research focuses on growth and yield variations in southern pines, such as shortleaf pine, and bottomland hardwood forests, including red oak species. He uses long-term data from repeated measurements to examine how species composition, spatial aggregation, and density interact along environmental gradients. He addresses contemporary forest management challenges by modeling individual tree growth, survival, health, tree ring analysis, aboveground biomass, forest carbon, and productivity under varying environmental gradients and climate change scenarios. Besides advanced statistical modeling approaches, he often utilizes remote sensing, LiDAR data, and machine learning techniques. Additionally, he studies germination trials, ice-storm damage, silvicultural treatments, fuel loads, invasive species, and regeneration. Dr. Saud also collaborates internationally on projects involving chir pine and the habitat ecology of musk deer, snow leopards, and common leopards.
Dr. Sadikshya Sharma is an ORISE Postdoctoral Fellow at the USDA Forest Service-Pacific Southwest Research Station in Riverside, CA. She received her undergraduate degree in Forestry from Agriculture and Forestry University, Nepal and MS and PhD degree in Forest Resources from the Penn State University, USA. Her research interests include forest economics, Food Water Energy nexus, environmental sustainability, and community empowerment. Currently, she is exploring how urban forests, and their ecosystem services and disservices affect human wellbeing, particularly in disadvantaged communities in southern California.
Dr. Donald L. Grebner is a Professor and Head of the Department of Forestry at Mississippi State University. He received a B.S. in Forestry from University of Maine in 1987 and a Master of Forestry from Yale University in 1992, a Master of Arts in Economics and a Ph.D. in Forestry and Forest Products from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1996 and 1998, respectively. His research interests include forest economics, international forestry, forest management, biomass and bioenergy, carbon sequestration and forest protection. He serves as a member of the Mississippi Biomass Council, Mississippi Forestry Association, Mississippi Society of American Foresters, Loblolly Chapter, Mississippi Society of American Foresters, Phi Kappa Phi, Renewable Fuels Association, Society of American Foresters and Southern Forest Economics Workers.
Dr. Omkar Joshi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Oklahoma State University. He received his M.S. in Forestry from the University of Arkansas at Monticello in 2009 and earned his Ph.D. in Forestry from Mississippi State University in 2013. He has also gained interdisciplinary training in forestry, human dimensions, and applied economics. His research combines theories and methods from natural resources, social psychology, human dimensions, economics, and regional science to answer questions relevant to natural resource management and policy. His research interests include ecosystem services valuation of forests and other natural resources, human dimensions and economics-related issues in natural resources, wood-based and other renewable energy issues, wildlife and energy economics.
