Nirajan Dhakal, Ph.D., assistant professor of Environmental and Health Sciences, is an earth and environmental scientist specialized in water resources engineering. His research focuses on improving the fundamental understanding of how the interplay of human and natural forces shapes water availability and distribution on watershed-to regional scales.
During his years at Spelman College, Dr. Dhakal, whose two primary areas of research are hydroclimatology and surface and subsurface hydrology, has published six peer-reviewed articles (one single authored and five co-authored).
Awards
Dr. Dhakal has been awarded $589,357 in external research grants and is the principal investigator on two grants. In one of his projects, "HBCU-Excellence in Research: Improved Understanding of the Changing Seasonality and Magnitude of Precipitation Extremes in the Eastern United States," Dr. Dhakal developed and applied innovative statistical approaches to estimate the frequency, magnitude and seasonality of extreme precipitation events over the eastern United States.
What Others Have to say About the Impact of Dr. Dhakal's Work
Dr. Dhakal has shown both depth and breadth in his research. In my opinion, his records exceed that of typical associate professor at other comparable colleges.
"An often-overlooked component in a strong candidate for tenure or promotion is evidence of mentoring students in research. Dr. Dhakal has demonstrated excellence in this respect, supervising 19 student research projects resulting in 16 local/regional conference presentations."
"Not only are his publications of the highest quality, but some of the journals in which he has published are among the top in the field. Another important aspect of his publications is his research findings have been published in diverse venues. Which
means that his research has been broadly recognized for its quality and promise.