Editor-In-Chief

Uma Karki, Ph. D.
Professor and State Extension Livestock Specialist Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Alabama

Dr. Uma Karki is a Research-Extension Professor of Animal Science and State Extension Livestock Specialist at Tuskegee University. She got her PhD in Forage and Grazing Land Ecology from Auburn University, Master's degree in Animal Science from the University of Western Australia, and Bachelor’s degrees in Animal Science and Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry from the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, Tribhuvan University, Nepal. Dr. Karki's current work focuses on promoting the sustainable livestock production system, including year-round forage production and grazing/browsing management, integrated approach for preventing diseases and parasites in small ruminants, sustainable agroforestry systems, and climate-smart practices. She has delivered numerous presentations in various national, international, and local conferences, meetings, and training events. Her research and extension findings are published in various journals, conference proceedings, newsletters, training handbooks, research highlights, and many other outlets. She has solely edited three training handbooks and authored nine chapters in those handbooks. She served as an editor for a book - Principles and Practices of Food Security (published by NAPA) and the Global Journal of Agricultural and Allied Sciences. She is a founding life member of NAPA, member of American Society of Animal Science, life member and past president of the Association for Temperate Agroforestry (AFTA), vice chair of 1890 Agroforestry Consortium, and member of several other professional organizations and honor societies. She has received Agroforestry Early Career Award (AFTA 2017), 1890 Excellence in Extension Award (Association of Extension Administrators, 2015), and Outstanding Faculty Performance Award for Service (Tuskegee University, 2013).

Managing Editors

Bharat Pokharel, Ph. D.
Associate Professor, Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA

Dr. Pokharel is a biometrician and applied statistician. He joined Tennessee State University in 2014 as an assistant professor of Applied Statistics. He is also currently serving as a Director of Graduate Programs for the College of Agriculture. In addition to his teaching and service responsibilities, he is particularly interested in designing experiments and conducting observational studies in traditional and contemporary agricultural, environmental and biological inquiries; and managing and analyzing large array of data collected from controlled experimental designs, observational studies, and remote sensing techniques such as Landsat imagery and airborne LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) in the SAS and R statistical computing environment. Dr. Pokharel has been involved in various community service projects including a school tree nursery project through Forests Without Boarders (Canadian Institute of Forestry’s sponsored project in Nepal) and rebuilding a school damaged by the 2015 earthquake in Nepal through the Nashville Nepalese Association (NNA), a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization. He has published over two dozen peer-reviewed journal articles, two book chapters, several non-peer reviewed articles, reports and proceedings, and over 50 conference abstracts/posters and invited talks. He received the “Tree of Life” Award from the Canadian Institute of Forestry in 2013. He is an active member of Society of American Foresters (SAF), and a life member of Association of Nepalese Agricultural Professionals of Americas (NAPA), Nepal Foresters’ Association, and Nepal Red Cross Society.

 

Ananta Acharya, Ph. D.
Data Lead, Early Product Development, Inari Agriculture, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

Dr. Acharya is data lead, Early Product Development for Inari Agriculture. He leads scientists and data analysts who specialize in solving complex genomics and bioinformatics data problems and move the gene edited plants through the product development and plant breeding. Before joining Inari, Ananta worked as a research scientist in Corteva Agriscience. Dr. Acharya's research interests are use of Bioinformatics and computational biology in Agriculture, esp. crop improvement. He has experience in working with plant breeding, genetics, genomics and computational biology while in academia and while working in the agriculture industry. He has published multiple peer-reviewed articles in the field of plant breeding, genomics and bioinformatics.

 

 

 

Aditya R. Khanal, Ph. D.
Associate Professor, Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, Tennessee State University (TSU), Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Subject Editor: Economics

Dr. Aditya R. Khanal is an agricultural and applied economist whose research focuses on agricultural finance, production economics, food security, risk management, and agribusiness. Khanal received his doctorate in Agricultural Economics and a Master of Science in Finance from Louisiana State University. He also holds a Master of Science in Economics from Virginia Tech as well as a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. Khanal has authored nearly 60 research publications and numerous conference papers, which he has presented at many international conferences. He is actively involved in research projects in the US and in South Asia and serves as a topical editor of the Sustainable Food section of Sustainability journal. Khanal is an active member of various professional organizations: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA), Southern Agricultural Economics Association (SAEA), Nepali Academics in America (NACA), and Association of Nepalese Agricultural Professionals in Americas (NAPA). Khanal has received the Outstanding Young Scholar Award of Agricultural Finance and Management from AAEA, the Emerging Scholar Award from SAEA, the Outstanding Young Researcher Award from the College of Agriculture at TSU, and the Highly Commended Journal Article of Excellence Award from Emerald Publishers.

Editors

Prem Bhandari, Ph. D.
Agri-tourism and Value Added Agricultural Marketing Specialist, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Maryland, USA
Subject Editor: Sociology

Dr. Bhandari received his doctoral degree in Rural Sociology and Demography from the Pennsylvania State University. Prior, he completed a Master of Science in Rural Development Planning from the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand, and a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics from the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, Tribhuvan University, Nepal. Currently Dr. Bhandari is working at the University of Maryland at Eastern Shore (UMES). Prior to joining UMES, Dr. Bhandari worked as a Co-Investigator and Assistant Research Scientist at the Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan. In Nepal, he was a Lecturer in Agriculture Economics at the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS), Tribhuvan University (TU). Dr. Bhandari has over 25 years of experience in designing and managing large scale social (survey) research programs including program evaluations. He has over 50 peer- reviewed journal articles published in world-renowned journals. He is an editorial member of three scientific journals and an occasional reviewer of nearly 20 world-class scientific journals. He was the founding General Secretary of the Association of Nepalese Agricultural Professionals of Americas (NAPA) and served as the founding Director/Member Secretary of the Endowment Fund Advisory Board of NAPA.

 

Kalidas Subedi, Ph. D.
Project Lead/Study Directory, Government of Canada
Subject Editor: Agronomy

Dr. Kalidas Subedi is an agricultural scientist, currently working with the Government of Canada as Project Lead/Study Director. He has extensive knowledge and experience of agriculture research, technology transfer and projects management, gained through working with different national and international research and development organizations including the Lumle Agricultural Center funded by DFID-UK, Sustainable Soil Management Program funded by Swiss Government and governments of Nepal and Canada. Dr. Subedi has earned his Ph.D. degree in crop physiology and plant nutrition the University of Reading, UK and M.Sc. in Tropical Crops production from the same university. He was graduated with B.Sc. (Hons.) Ag. From the Haryana Agricultural University, India. Dr. Subedi has published over 60 peer-reviewed papers in leading international journals, books and book chapters, and over 200 research papers, training manuals, and proceedings in different aspects of agriculture. Dr. Subedi has served as a reviewer/editor of several leading international journals, books, and proceedings. His scientific works are well recognised, and he is the recipient of various fellowships, awards and recognitions including “Dipendra Youth Scientist Award” from the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST).

 

Chakra Budhathoki, Ph. D.
Associate Professor, Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Subject Editor: Statistics

Dr. Budhathoki is an Associate Professor at Johns Hopkins University. He holds a Ph.D. (Forest Biometrics and Statistics) from Oklahoma State University, USA, and a Master’s degree from England. His previous academic and professional positions were at Harvard School of Public Health, Saint Louis University and University of Colorado, and several institutions in Nepal, including Tribhuvan University. He teaches biostatistics and data analysis courses in graduate programs at Johns Hopkins University. He also provides biostatistical consultation support to investigators at the school, and serves on doctoral dissertation committees. Dr. Budhathoki conducts collaborative healthcare research as a co-investigator on several federally funded grants. He has published more than 90 peer-reviewed articles. He serves as an editorial board member of a nursing research journal, and has been a peer reviewer for several healthcare journals and conference abstracts. He is a member of American Statistical Association, International Biometric Society, Sigma Xi, Gamma Sigma Delta and Xi Sigma Pi. He maintains interest in agricultural and allied science research, as he began his research career in agriculture, especially field crops research in the western hills of Nepal.

 

Srinivasa Rao Mentreddy, Ph. D.
Professor, Alabama A&M University, Huntsville,  Alabama, USA
Subject Editor: Agronomy

Dr. Srinivasa Rao Mentreddy, a Professor of crop science at Alabama A&M University, Alabama, USA, is an agronomist by training. Dr. Mentreddy earned BS and MS in Agriculture from the Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University, India, and a Ph.D. in Agronomy/Crop Physiology from the University of Tasmania, Australia. Dr. Mentreddy was a postdoctoral scientist at the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-arid Tropics in Hyderabad, India. Following a three-year postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Georgia, Dr. Mentreddy worked as Research Associate at Fort Valley State University, GA, for ten years. He left Fort Valley State University to join Alabama A&M University, Huntsville, AL, as an Associate Professor in 2003. He continues to serve Alabama A&M University.

Dr. Mentreddy teaches agricultural science courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels and advises graduate students. His current research focuses on developing cover crop-based sustainable crop management practices for vegetable and medicinal herbs in open field and agroforestry systems, evaluating low-temperature plasma as a green technology for chemical-free seed and meat safety, and improving seed germination, plant growth, and yield. As one of the Founding Members of the American Council for Medicinally Active Plants (ACMAP), he is an Ex-officio member of the ACMAP Board of Directors. He served ACMAP as the secretary, Vice President, and President/Chair since its inception, the 1890 Agroforestry Consortium, and member of various committees in the American Society for Horticultural Science. Dr. Mentreddy has several years of experience as a reviewer for various journals, funding agencies, universities, and publishers worldwide.

 

Ram Bhujel, Ph.D.
Research Associate Professor, Aquaculture & Aquatic Resources Management, Asian Institite of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand
Director, Aqua-Centre, Aquaculture & Aquatic Resources Management, Asian Institite of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand
Subject Editor: Aquaculture/Fisheries

Dr. Bhujel completed MS (1994) & Ph.D. (1999) at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand. He did his post-docs at the University of Stirling, Scotland, in 2000 & 2001 and the University of Montpellier III, France, in 2012. Dr. Bhujel started his career at AIT as a Research Scientist and Affiliated Faculty in 2005, taking on the responsibilities of teaching and supervising postgraduate students. Dr. Bhujel authored two books, “A Manual for Tilapia Business Management” and “Statistics for Aquaculture.” He has also authored several book chapters, written more than 100 papers, and presented many keynote/invited speeches worldwide.

His research interests include aquaculture development and fisheries management. He has expertise in biostatistics, breeding, and feeding and nutrition of aquatic animals. He implemented Nepal's “Women in Aquaculture (WiA)” program from 2000 to 2010. He led a curriculum development program for aquaculture/fisheries in Asia, starting with “Improving Master’s Degree level education in Cambodia, Nepal, and Vietnam” from 2005 to 2008. He then designed “Linking the post-graduate Education with Its Industries through Internship Program” from 2007 to 2010, which supported more than 100 students. His “Curriculum Development for Sustainable Seafood and Nutrition Security” project established nine sustainable seafood centers and launched and/or improved MSc programs in Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam during 2017-2022.

He has been awarded GOLD MEDAL by Asian Fisheries Society (AFS) in 2009 recognizing his contribution to aquaculture education. He serves as a member of the World Aquaculture Society, Asian Fisheries Society, Nepalese Fisheries Society, and an advisor to the Seafood Watch Program of Monterey Bay Aquarium of California, USA.

 

Vitalis Temu, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Forage Ecology Research, Virginia State University
Subject Editor: Animal Science/Forage System

Dr. Vitalis Temu, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor at Virginia State University (VSU), where he leads a forage ecology and management research program. He received an associate degree in Range Management before earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in animal science from the Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania and a Ph.D. in agronomy from Mississippi State University. He has dedicated decades to researching plant-animal-environment interactions in tropical and temperate agricultural systems. In his research at VSU, Dr. Temu has worked mostly on the enhanced establishment of native warm-season grass stands and their sustainable defoliation management for forage and wildlife habitat in agricultural landscapes.

He also works on forage-based strategies for controlling gastrointestinal nematodes affecting pasture-raised small ruminants to address growing consumer preferences for animal products with less or no chemical drug residues. As a member of the 1890 Agroforestry Consortium, an affiliate of the North American Agroforestry Association, Dr. Temu promotes sustainable agroforestry practices, including silvopasture, grass-legume mixtures, and rotational grazing for Climate-Smart ruminant livestock production. He also assesses ecological restoration of degraded agricultural landscapes, including revegetation of utility-scale solar installations. Since joining VSU, Dr. Temu has reviewed over 60 published manuscripts for over 10 scientific journals that follow a rigorous peer-review process. He has published at least 20 peer-reviewed Journal articles and given over 20 conference presentations.

He is a board member of the Virginia Forage and Grassland Council and the Southern United States Cover Crops Council, where he also serves on research and conference committees, the American Society of Agronomy, the Crop Science Society of America, the Society for Range Management, and several other professional associations.

 

 

Editorial Assistant

 

Pabitra Aryal, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, Virginia Tech

 

Dr. Pabitra Aryal is a dedicated environmental scientist with extensive expertise in GIS, remote sensing, and sustainable agricultural practices, currently working as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Virginia Tech's Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation. She is currently working on synthesizing global best practices for riparian buffer management, advancing agroforestry initiatives, and analyzing ecosystem performance, particularly within Virginia’s James River Watershed. Dr. Aryal's research emphasizes integrating scientific insights with practical, sustainable solutions in natural resource management and agroforestry.

Dr. Aryal's academic background includes a Ph.D. in Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences from Virginia Tech, where her research focused on developing production techniques for ramps (Allium tricoccum) in Appalachia. She also holds master’s degree in environmental sciences from Tribhuvan University, Nepal and another MS degree in Biological Sciences from Eastern Illinois University, IL, USA, contributing to her deep understanding of ecosystem dynamics, climate change impacts, and agricultural sustainability. Her research contributions are well-recognized, with multiple publications and conference presentations addressing topics from mycorrhizal influence on chestnut growth to carbon sequestration and site suitability modeling for forest farming.

A committed advocate for environmental conservation, Dr. Aryal actively engages in stakeholder outreach, community education, and interdisciplinary collaboration, ensuring her research addresses practical needs and contributes to sustainable agricultural practices. Her work has been supported by various grants and scholarships, underscoring her commitment to impactful, evidence-based research in environmental and agricultural sciences

Technical Support

1. Amod Karki

2. Dev Paudel