Our Alumni

Deepak Ghimire earned his B.S. in Agriculture from the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Sciences, Tribhuvan University, Nepal. He traveled thousands of miles from Nepal to Nebraska to pursue his graduate studies. Ghimire earned his M.S. degree in Agronomy with a specialization in Soil and Water Sciences under the supervision of Dr. Maharjan. During his M.S., Ghimire worked on a winter wheat fertility project where he conducted field experiments to evaluate the effects of different N fertilizer rates and application timing on winter wheat grain yield and quality. Ghimire also used crop sensors (hand-held and drone-mounted) to assess the potential of its use to predict in-season fertility status as well as wheat yield and quality.

Ghimire continued his education at the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, UNL, and is currently working on his Ph.D. degree. His current research work revolves around the critical theme of optimizing nitrogen management to maximize crop yield as well as to ensure environmental sustainability in major row crops of western Nebraska. His research interests include the use of advanced tools and technology for efficient nitrogen management, harnessing the power of data to leverage solutions to farmers, climate-smart agriculture, and environmental sustainability.



PUBLICATIONS



https://twitter.com/agrideepak093



https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepak-ghimire

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Lithma Kariyawasam was born and raised in Sri Lanka, where she earned her B.S. in Agriculture from the University of Jaffna in Sri Lanka. After graduation, she gained valuable academic experience working as a teaching assistant at the same university for a year. In 2022, she embarked on an important journey to Nebraska, joining the Panhandle Research, Extension, and Education Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) in Scottsbluff as a research scholar under the mentorship of Dr. Maharjan. This opportunity marked a significant milestone in her academic career.

Lithma pursued a M.S. degree in Agronomy with a specialization in Soil and Water Sciences in the Department of Agronomy at UNL, also under the guidance of Dr. Maharjan. Her research focus was on developing innovative strategies for managing soil health in croplands. The primary objective of her major project was to identify critical soil health indicators to assess the soil health gap in croplands.
Her research interests include novel approaches to soil health assessment, establishing soil health benchmarks, improving soil health management for farmers, promoting soil conservation, and advancing environmental sustainability.

Publications

Kariyawasam Hetti Gamage, L.R., Gnanavelrajah, N., Ketheesan, B. and Kajeevan, K., 2023. Chlorella sp. Cultivation Using Parboiled Rice Effluent and Utilization of the Microalgae as Coorganic Fertilizer for Brinjal (Solanum melongina). Waste and Biomass Valorization, 14(12), pp.4243-4256. DOI: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667006224000169?via%3Dihub

Das, S., Hird, A., Maharjan, B., Stephenson, M. and Kariyawasam, L., 2024. Reference site selection based on state-and-transition models for soil health gap evaluation within cropland reference ecological units. Soil Security, 16, p.100142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soisec.2024.100142

Contacts

lkariyawasamhettig2@huskers.unl.edu

402-617-1692

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lithma-kariyawasam

Rex Nielsen is a third-generation rancher, manager and one of the owners of the Spear T Ranch Corporation which has been in the Nielsen family for eighty-five years. Nielsen earned a B.S. from Chadron State College as well as other undergraduate degrees from Nebraska Western College and Western Nebraska Technical College. He also has had significant interest and involvement in Nebraska water issues. Nielsen served the PREEC Soils Lab for over 40 years, retired in March 2023 and continues to facilitate research efforts on the family ranch.

https://preec.unl.edu/dr-saurav-das

https://twitter.com/thedassaurav

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-saurav-das-019343b4/

In his current role, Dr. Thapa is actively engaged in a statewide cover crop project – a collaborative initiative between UNL and NE-NRCS – focused on advancing the knowledge and utilization of cover crops for conservation measures in Nebraska. Dr. Thapa is leading efforts to establish cover crop variety trials across multiple Nebraska ecoregions, spanning five UNL research stations and private farms. The primary objective of the project is to identify the most well-adapted cover crop species or varieties, taking into consideration crop systems, climate, soils, and unique regional needs. Dr. Thapa earned his Ph.D. in Plant and Environmental Science from New Mexico State University in 2021. His diverse research interests revolve around plant-microbe-soil interactions, with a specific focus on carbon and nitrogen dynamics, soil biology, greenhouse gas emissions, nutrients and water management, and regenerative agricultural practices. His overarching goal is to contribute to meeting the growing global food demand, benefiting the eight billion people around the globe.