Bio:

Dr. Buddhi Raj Gyawali is a tenured Professor of geospatial applications, human dimensions of natural resources, and Climate Studies at Kentucky State University in Frankfort, KY, since January 2012. He received a B.S. in Agriculture from Tribhuvan University, Nepal; an M.A. in International Development from Clark University, Worcester, MA; an M.S. in Agribusiness Management, and a Ph.D. in Natural Resources from Alabama A&M University in 2007. Dr. Gyawali currently teaches  Introduction to GIS, Climate Change Studies, and Remote Sensing of Environment to graduate and undergraduate students, and Special Topics in Advanced Geospatial Analysis, Modeling, and Research.  He is also the lead scientist of Geospatial Intelligence and Environmental Security; Coordinator of Masters in Environmental Science (Online program), and Director of Summer Apprenticeship Programs (SAP) at Kentucky State University.

Dr. Gyawali has experience in developing and securing multidisciplinary competitive grants (over $4 million in the last seven years) from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). These grants have been instrumental in designing and implementing major STEM curricula, minor and certificate programs in Geospatial Technology Application, classroom methods, laboratory instrumentation, and generating research stipends for undergraduate and graduate students. With these research and education grants, Dr. Gyawali was able to create stipends for 16 graduate students for their M.S. thesis research, over 40 undergraduate STEM majors to participate in experiential research projects, and about 90 high school rising juniors to participate in Summer Apprenticeship Program (SAP) at Kentucky State University since 2014. Dr. Gyawali’s research uses geospatial techniques, demographic, and spatial data to study the human-environment relationship, land cover change and microclimate variation, water, and soil quality, agroecosystems, regional poverty, farm diversifications, succession, efficiency, sustainability, and adoption of geospatial technologies at the small-scale farms level. Dr. Gyawali has received numerous awards for Excellence in Teaching, Research, and Service from the USDA Office of Outreach and Advocacy, Southern Rural Sociological Association, and Alabama A&M and Kentucky State Universities. Dr. Gyawali has published numerous papers in peer-reviewed journals and served in multiple peer review panels organized by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA),  National Science Foundation (NSF), and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Southern- Sustainable Agriculture, Research and Education (SARE).

Dr. Gyawali belongs to several professional societies, and he is a member of the  KY Governor’s Geographic Information Advisory Council and President-Elect for Southern Rural Sociology Association.