Current Lab Members
Dr. Krishna P. Poudel
Principal Investigator
Dr. Poudel joined the Department of Forestry at Mississippi State University in August 2018. Prior to joining the department, he worked as a postdoctoral scholar in the Forest Measurements and Biometrics Lab in the Department of Forest Engineering, Resources, and Management at Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR. He received his BS in Forestry from Tribhuvan University, Nepal, MS in Forest Biometrics from Louisiana State University, and PhD in Forest Biometrics and MS in Statistics from Oregon State University.
Suharsha Baskarla
PhD Student
Suharsha Baskarla joined the Forest Biometrics laboratory at Mississippi State University in Spring 2024. Prior to joining the lab, she served as a Forest Carbon Analyst for Real Heritage Group in Huntsville, AL. She holds a master's degree in forestry from Auburn University, College of Forestry, Wildlife, and Environment, and a bachelor’s degree in forestry from Forest College and Research Institute, India. Her master’s thesis focused on assessing family forest landowners' interest in forest carbon programs in the Southern United States and predicting carbon content in loblolly pine using Near Infrared Spectroscopy. Her Ph.D. project aims to identify the determinants of forest carbon potential using forest inventory data and to enhance the growth and yield models within the Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS).
Quentin Boccaleri
MS Student
Quentin Boccaleri joined the lab in the Fall of 2023. He is primarily interested in forest inventory methodology, forest operational planning, and carbon sequestration. His research focuses on using remote sensing data and statistical models for short-term rotation woody crops (SRWC) site selection and carbon yield modeling.
Pratyush Dhungana
MS Student
Pratyush Dhungana joined the Forest Biometrics Lab at Mississippi State University in January 2024 as Graduate Research Assistant, pursuing his passion for remote sensing, GIS, forest biometrics and machine learning. He is currently working on a project that aims to increase the accuracy of small area estimate using remote sensing data and ground measurements data, with a focus on LiDAR and GEDI data. He is an enthusiastic and motivated learner who seeks to expand his knowledge and skills in the field of forestry and geospatial sciences.
Former Lab Members
Okikiola M. Alegbeleye
MS Student
Okikiola joined the lab in the spring of 2022. Prior to joining the lab, he had an exchange program at Universidad de Jaen, Spain, shortly after his first degree in forestry from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He is interested in investigating how both aerial and spaceborne remotely sensed data can be used to improve forest quantification, management, and conservation. His master's thesis focuses on small-area estimation of forest attributes using Forest Inventory Analysis (FIA) with Global Ecosystem Data Investigation (GEDI) data in Mississippi State. Okikiola is a certified FAA drone pilot (Part 107). He loves to draw and plays musical instruments. Okikiola graduated in August 2023.
Current Position: PhD Student at Washington State University.
Michael's thesis: Small area estimation of county-level forest attributes using forest inventory data and remotely sensed auxiliary information
Prakash Tiwari
MS Student
A geospatial analyst and certified remote pilot, Prakash is working towards his MS degree in Forest Biometrics. His research fuses remote sensing data and agricultural crop yield production to identify agricultural marginal lands in Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Prakash graduated in May 2023.
Current position: GIS Analyst, NativState
Prakash's thesis: Marginal agricultural land identification in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley
Publication: Tiwari, P., Poudel, K.P., Yang, J., Silva B., Yang, Y., and McConnell, M. 2023. Marginal Agricultural Land Identification in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley Based on Remote Sensing and Machine Learning Model. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation. 125: 103568.
Nitant Rai
Nitant joined the Department of Forestry in Spring 2021. In his master's thesis, Nitant evaluated the accuracy of spaceborne lidar (ICESat-2) canopy height products using airborne lidar derived canopy height estimates. He also developed models to link airborne lidar height metrics from ICESat-2 lidar metrics.
Current Position: PhD student at Virginia Tech.
Nitant's thesis: Mapping forest structure in Mississippi using LiDAR remote sensing.
Sujan Subedi
Sujan joined the Department of Forestry in Spring 2020. He worked on developing individual tree diameter growth models for major tree species in Mississippi. These models are informed by the usual tree and stand level variables as well as the climatic variables.
Current Position: PhD student at Virginia Tech.
Sujan's thesis: Climate sensitive diameter growth models for major tree species in Mississippi.
Bini Dahal
Bini joined the Department of Forestry in Fall 2019 and graduated with MS in Forestry in August 2021. She worked on a project to assess the economic feasibility of biomass production from short rotation woody crops (cottonwood and willow) in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley.
Current Position: PhD student at North Carolina State University.
Publication: Dahal, B., Poudel, K.P., Renninger, H.J., Granger, J.J., Leininger, T.D., Gardiner, E.S., Souter, R.A., and Rousseau, R.J. 2022. Aboveground biomass equations for black willow (Salix nigra Marsh.) and eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides Bartr. ex Marsh.). Trees, Forests and People 7: 100195.
Josh Bankston
Josh finished his MS in Forest Biometrics in May 2019. He looked at the effects of sample plot size and prediction models used to recover parameters of Weibull distribution in describing diameter distributions thinned and unthinned lobolly pine stands.
Current Position: GIS Analyst at The Westervelt Company
Josh's thesis: Sample-Plot Size and Diameter Moments/Percentiles Prediction Model Effects on Stand Diameter Distribution Recovery Accuracy.
Publication: Bankston, J.B., Sabatia, C.O., and Poudel, K.P. 2021. Effects of sample plot size and prediction models on diameter distribution recovery. Forest Science. 67(3): 245 – 255.