• MS Graduate Student
• Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University
• gkrochma@purdue.edu

EDUCATION

• 2019- Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science, Loyola University Chicago

AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIP

Rachel Carson Scholarship, Loyola University Retreat & Ecology Campus (2016-2019)

REU Undergraduate Research Fellowship, Center for Tree Science,The Morton Arboretum (2019) 

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Gabriela is studying the ecological and economic effectiveness of federal cost-share programs to control invasive plants on private lands. She will be examining woody tree regeneration, forest reproduction and annual tree growth. She is co-advised by Drs. Michael Jenkins and Jingjing Liang.

Gabriela grew up in Chicago where she received her B.S. in Environmental Science from Loyola University Chicago. There, she was an intern for the Office of Sustainability and later found her passion for fieldwork and research by taking field intensive courses at Loyola’s Ecology campus. 

Her undergrad research experience was at the Center for Tree Science at the Morton Arboretum. Her research explored how the addition of nitrogen and phosphorus influence biological processes in a lowland tropical rainforest in Costa Rica. After graduation, she spent two years working as program assistant and intern for the Plant Pathology and Entomology lab at the Morton Arboretum. In this position she expanded the PlayCleanGo invasive species awareness campaign to state parks across Illinois and worked on multiple forest health related projects.

• M.S. Student,
• Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University

EDUCATION

2017-2021 – B.S., Natural Resources Ecology and Management, Oklahoma State University, OK

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

• 2020-2021 – Niblack Research Scholar, Natural Resources Ecology and Management, Oklahoma State University, OK. Advisor: Dr. Omkar Joshi, Graduate Advisor: Bijesh Mishra. Project: Preventing the Further Spread of Eastern Redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) in the Southern Great Plains: A Stakeholder Perception Analysis on Best Management Practices

• 2019-2021 – Research Technician, Joshi Natural Resource Social Science Lab, Oklahoma State University, OK

• 2019 – Research Technician, Tree Physiology and Watershed Research Lab, Oklahoma State University, OK

CONFERENCE PRESENTATION

2021 – International Society of Forest Resource Economics Symposium, virtual: Oral Presentation

AWARDS

• 2020-2021 – Niblack Research Scholarship

• 2020-2021 – Walker Jr. Merit Scholarship

• 2020-2021 – J. Fleming Memorial Continuing Student Scholarship

• Graduate student,
• Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University
• adams331@purdue.edu

EDUCATION

• 2021- Aquatic Sciences, concentration in Marine and Freshwater Biology, Purdue University, IN
• November – December 2020- Research assistant, Höök Lab, Purdue University, IN
• May – July 2019- Lab Assistant, Forest Ecology, Silviculture & Soils Laboratory, Purdue University, IN
• May – July 2018- Landscaper, Columbian Park Zoo, Lafayette Parks and Recreation | Lafayette, IN

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Interested in a position at the intersection of environmental research and human dimensions

AWARDS

• 2021- Martell Leadership Scholarship , Forestry and Natural Resources Department of Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
• 2018- Chapel of the Good Shepherd Scholarship , Chapel of the Good Shepherd , West Lafayette, IN
• 2016 – 2017- David L. Rice Merit Scholarship, University of Southern Indiana, Evansville, IN
• 2016- New Harmony Alumni Scholarship , New Harmony Alumni Association , New Harmony, IN

• Email: franks12@purdue.edu
• M.S. Graduate Student
• Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, 715 W. State Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907

EDUCATION

2020- Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and Ecology, SUNY Brockport

AWARDS

• 2020-2021 Environmental Science and Ecology Department Scholar
• 2019-2020 SUNY Brockport Student Travel Grant 

RESEARCH INTERESTS 

Aubrey is studying the ecological effectiveness of federal cost-share programs to control invasive forest plants on non-industrial privatized land. He will be studying the native plant diversity, invasive reduction, and the effects of invasive removal on the herbaceous layer. He is co-advised by Drs. Michael Jenkins and Jingjing Liang. 

Aubrey grew up in Upstate New York where he gained a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and Ecology from SUNY Brockport. At Brockport, he was a research aide managing slender false brome (Brachypodium sylvaticum) and researching its effects on woody regeneration in Bergen Swamp New York. Aubrey worked with Western New York Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management (WNY PRISM) as an invasive species management assistant. While there he conducted invasive plant surveys and managed invasive species throughout western New York. 

• _{MS Student}
• _{Department of Forestry and Natural Resources}

Education 

• 2021- Bachelor of Science in Natural Resources Management, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

Awards

• KNUST Undergraduate Bursary Award 2018/2019; 2019/2020; 2020/2021
• Ghana Scholarship Secretariat Award 2020/2021

Research interests

Desmond is about to begin an exciting research adventure in the field of quantitative forest ecology using machine and statistical approaches.

• MS Graduate Student 
• Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University 
• akblackf@purdue.edu 

EDUCATION 

• 2021 - Bachelor of Science in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Northern Colorado 

AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIP 

College of Natural and Health Sciences Academic Scholar Award (2019, 2020, 2021) 

Office of Undergraduate Research Grant (2021) 

John Gapter Memorial Scholarship (2019, 2020, 2021) 

RESEARCH INTERESTS 

Anna is co-advised by Drs. Michael Jenkins, Jingjing Liang, and Mo Zhou. She is studying the ecological effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and overall risk of invasive species control through federal assistance in the Great Lakes region. 

Anna is originally from the Western Slope of Colorado and received her undergraduate degree from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. While working on her B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, she assisted multiple graduate students with their thesis projects and had the opportunity to do field work in Capitol Reef National Park, Roosevelt National Forest, Red Feather Lakes (CO), and other exciting sites.  

Following her graduation from UNC, Anna spent a year working as a GIS Technician for a land survey company. She spent this time completing migratory bird surveys, collecting vendor-specific data points, and learning how to effectively manage geospatial data using Esri and AutoCAD products.  

Jean Fritz Saint Preux
M.S. Student
jsaintpr@purdue.edu  
Department of Forestry and Natural Resources , Purdue University

EDUCATION
2021 - 2022 – MS in Rural Sociology, Auburn University
2013 – 2019 – Bachelors  in Agricultural Sciences, minor in Agricultural Economics, State University of Haiti, Haiti

RESEARCH INTERESTS
My research is focus on maple production in Indiana and spatial analysis of maple trees in the eastern US.

MS Graduate Student, Dual Degree

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,

Department of Forestry & Natural Resources

Purdue University                                                                                            

vbasavar@purdue.edu

https://www.linkedin.com/in/varsharajb 

EDUCATION 

2023 - 2025 – MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University.
2014 - 2018 – BS in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, minor in Computer Science, PES University, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Varsha, a Graduate Research Assistant at the FACAI lab, is currently working in science-i and data management under the mentorship of Dr. Jingjing Liang. 

Originally from Bangalore, India, Varsha holds an undergraduate degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering with a minor in Computer Science from PES University. With 5 years of experience in the IT industry as a Software Product Engineer, Varsha brings strong expertise in Java development and RESTful API development using Apache Camel. She is proficient in tools like Postman, JSON, XML, and Swagger, and has a solid understanding of DevOps tools such as Docker, Kubernetes, and AWS. Additionally, Varsha is skilled in front-end application development.

Pavan Chaitanya Penagamuri

MS Student,

Dual Degree

Department of Computer Science,

Department of Forestry & Natural Resources

Purdue University

EDUCATION

Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science & Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Pavan is advised by Dr. Jingjing Liang. He is interested in applying machine learning, especially deep learning techniques to forest research. He is currently working on estimating forest growth (DBH) using neural networks and GNNs.

Pavan is originally from India. He completed his bachelor’s in computer science and engineering from IIT Bombay. During his undergraduate, he has participated in two research projects working on developing education platform at IIT Bombay and developing a computer vision phishing website detection tool. After graduating, he worked as a software engineer for a CXM company. During this time, he developed multiple distributed microservices, integrations and robust APIs.

MUSTAK AHMAD

MS Student pursuing a Dual Degree

Department of Computer & Information Technology

Department of Forestry & Natural Resources

Purdue University

EDUCATION

2018-2020 Master of Business Administration, Institute of Business Administration (IBA), University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

2009-2014 Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology, Chittagong, Bangladesh.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Mustak is advised by Dr. Jingjing Liang. He is interested in applying machine learning and deep learning techniques in forestry. He is currently working on mapping changes in life stages of trees at different time stamps using machine learning and graph neural networks.

Brought up in Bangladesh, he completed his bachelor’s in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology. He received his MBA in Marketing from the Institute of Business Administration, University of Dhaka. Throughout his career, he has worked in several industries, with more than 7 years of substantial experience in the Telecom Industry, where he specialized in 2G, 3G, and 4G networks. Additionally, Mustak worked at the 5G readiness project of Teletalk Bangladesh Limited.

Zoha KHAN

• Ph.D. student
• Department of Forestry and Natural Resources , Purdue University
• mitra46@purdue.edu

EDUCATION

• 2018-2020 – Research Fellow, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama through US-Israel Binational Science Foundation.
• 2017-2018 – Project Assistant, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research(CSIR)- Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute, India. Topic- “Role of Siderophore Producing Bacteria in Wheat Production, India
• 2016-2017 – MS in Biological Oceanography, Center for Oceans, River, Atmosphere and land Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology(IIT) Kharagpur, India
• 2014-2016 – Masters in Ecology and Environmental Science, Pondicherry Central University, India
• 2011-2014 –Bachelors in Environmental Science, University of Calcutta, India

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Ankita is exploring the spatial dynamics of global forestry using innovative artificial intelligence methods, under the guidance of Dr. Jingjing Liang at the FACAI lab.

Originally from India, Ankita earned Silver Medal(securing second position in the state of West Bengal) during her undergraduate studies(Bachelors) at the University of Calcutta, India. While pursuing a B.Sc. in Environmental Science, she conducted fieldwork in the Indian Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest, focusing on understanding how these ecosystems respond to climate change.

After her undergraduate studies, Ankita earned Gold Medal in Environmental Science (securing top position in the University) during her Masters program at Pondicherry Central University, India.
Fueled by the DST-INSPIRE Fellowship, she contributed to a significant project on carbon storage in mangrove forestry at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India. She also gained 1.5 years of practical hands-on experience in various industrial pollution treatment consultancy projects at the CSIR-Central Salt Marine Chemicals Research Institute in Bhavnagar, India. Throughout her academic journey, Ankita actively participated in various national and international conferences related to climate change and forestry.

Her global exploration took her to the Panama Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, supported by the US-Israel Binational Science Foundation Fellowship. There, she acquired valuable research experience in the tropical forests of Panama. Currently, Ankita is a Ph.D. student at the FACAI lab, where she is leveraging artificial intelligence modeling under Dr. Jingjing Liang's guidance to explore forestry dynamics in the context of climate change.

AWARDS

• 2020-2021 – Best resource person/Best Speaker Award in various International Seminars on Climate Change and Pandemic Scenario
• 2019- US-Israel Binational Science Foundation Fellowship
• 2017 – DST- INSPIRE Fellowship, Government of India2014- Young Scientist Award, Oral Presentation, Center for Oceans and Environmental Science, New Delhi, India
• 2016 – Gold Medal(First rank in Masters), Pondicherry Central University, India
• 2014 – Mira Scholarship Award(Second rank in Bachelors), University of Calcutta, India
• 2013- Poster presentation, International Workshop on Mangrove Conservation, India
• 2013- Oral presentation, Marine Biotechnology Symposium, Muscat, Oman

• Ph.D. student,
• Department of Forestry and Natural Resources,
• Purdue University
• choi794@purdue.edu

EDUCATION

● 2021 – M.A. in Latin American Economics, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, South Korea

Thesis: An Analysis on the Effects of Corruption affecting CO2 Emissions in South America

● 2016 – B.S in Bioscience and Biotechnology / B.A. in Spanish Interpretation and Translation, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, South Korea,

RESEARCH INTEREST

● To study the relationship between global change and forest ecosystem diversity using big data and Artificial Intelligence

PUBLICATION

● 08/2021 – Korean Association of Lusophone Area Studies, The Determinants of Deforestation in Latin America: Focusing on Corruption Factors. (Original title in Korean: 라틴아메리카에서 삼림 파괴 결정 요인: 부패요인을 중심으로)

● 06/2021 – Korean Council on Latin America & the Caribbean, The Romantic Natural Resource in Latin America: Wine (Original title in Korean: 라틴아메리카의 감성 천연 자원: 와인)

● 08/2020 – Graduate School of International and Area Studies, An Analysis on the Effects of Corruption affecting CO2 Emissions in South America

● 12/2018 – Ministry of Foreign Affairs, An Analysis on the perception of Korean wave in South America using big data: Comparative analysis of K-pop perception in Latin American countries (Chile, Peru, Mexico) affected by the Korean Wave (Original title in Korean: 빅데이터를 활용한 중남미 국가들 내에서의 한류 인식 분석: 한류 열풍이 강하게 영향을 미친 중남미 국가 (칠레, 페루, 멕시코)에서의 K-POP에 대한 인식 비교분석)

Award

● 2018 – Excellence award, A thesis contest for Latin American studies, Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Latin American Studies Association of Korea

Bindu Paudel
PhD. Student,
Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University
paudel@purdue.edu

EDUCATION
2019-2022 – Master of Science in Data Science, South Dakota State University
2019-2021 – Master of Science in Economics, South Dakota State University
2013-2017 – Bachelor of Science in Agriculture, Agriculture and Forestry University, Nepal 
 
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Consumer behavior, Production and marketing, Invasive species control, Effectiveness of cost-sharing conservation programs
 
PUBLICATIONS
Paudel, B., Kolady, D., Just, D., & Ishaq, M. (2023). Effect of information and innovator reputation on consumers’ willingness to pay for genome-edited foods. Food Quality and Preference, 107, 104825. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2023.104825
Paudel, B., Kolady, D. E., Just, D., & Van der Sluis, E. (2023). Determinants of consumer acceptance of gene‐edited foods and its implications for innovators and policymakers. Agribusiness. https://doi.org/10.1002/agr.21799
Paudel, B., Kolady, D., Grebitus, C., Roy, A., & Ishaq, M. (2022). Consumers’ willingness to pay for pork produced with different levels of antibiotics. Q Open, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.1093/qopen/qoac001
 
AWARDS/SCHOLARSHIPS

• 2^nd position in WAEA Graduate Paper Competition, Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA) and Western Agricultural Economics Association (WAEA) Joint Annual Meeting, August 1-3, 2021.
• 1^st Position in Poster Competition, Ness School of Management and Economics, South Dakota State University, 2020
• Government Merit Scholarship, Agriculture and Forestry University, Rampur, Chitwan, 2013-2017

Akane O Abbasi 

• Postdoctoral Researcher
• Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University 
• aota@purdue.edu 

EDUCATION 

• 2023 – PhD in Quantitative Forest Ecology, Purdue University, IN, USA, Advisor: Dr. Jingjing Liang
• 2018 – MS in Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, IN, USA, Advisor: Dr. Jeffrey Dukes 
• 2016 – BS in Bioenvironmental Sciences, Nagoya University, Japan, Advisor: Dr. Kazuhiro Harada 
• 2014 – Exchange Program, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, IL, USA 

RESEARCH INTERESTS 

To understand the state and dynamics of forest biodiversity under global change using big data and statistical/machine learning techniques 

PUBLICATIONS 

• Abbasi, A. O., Tang, X., Harris, N. L., Goldman, E. D., Gamarra, J. G. P., Herold, M., … Liang, J. (2023). Spatial database of planted forests in East Asia. Scientific data, 10(1), 480. doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02383-w.
• Liang, J., Gamarra, J. G. P., Picard, N., Zhou, M., Pijanowski, B., Jacobs, D. F., … Abbasi, A. O., … Hui, C. (2022). Co-limitation towards lower latitudes shapes global forest diversity gradients. Nature Ecology and Evolution, doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01831-x.  
• Ebrahimi, A., Abbasi, A. O., Liang, J., & Jacobs, D. F. (2022). Spatiotemporal trends of black walnut forest stocking under climate change. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2022.970379.  
• Abbasi, A. O., Salazar, A., Oh, Y., Reinsch, S., Uribe, M., Li, J., Rashid, I., & Dukes, J. (2020). Reviews and syntheses: Soil responses to manipulated precipitation changes–an assessment of meta-analyses. Biogeosciences, 17, 3859-3873.  
• Ota, A. (2018). Potential of biochar to mitigate the effects of increased precipitation variability on soil greenhouse gas emissions and soybean growth [Master’s thesis, Purdue University]. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.  

AWARDS 

2022 – Purdue Graduate Student Government, Travel Grant 

2022 – The Department of Forestry and Natural Resources Poster Competition, Honorable Mention 

2018 – Purdue Climate Change Research Center, Travel Grant 

2018 – Three Minute Thesis Competition, Runner-Up, Purdue University 

2016 – Takenaka Foundation Scholarship 

2016 – Best Senior presentation Award, Nagoya University 

2013 – JASSO Exchange Student Scholarship 

Joe House

Undergraduate Researcher 
Department of Forestry and Natural Resources,
Purdue University
(513) 869-0626 
house24@purdue.edu 
www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-house96 

EDUCATION 

2025 - Bachelor of Science in Forestry with a concentration in Forest Management and a Minor in Digital Natural Resources 

RESEARCH INTERESTS 

Junhee Lim

BS Undergraduate Student

Department of Computer Science, Purdue University

lim347@purdue.edu

WEIXUE LUO

• MS student,
• Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University
• dburlako@purdue.edu 

EDUCATION

• 2018- Bachelor of Science in Forestry, Agriculture and Forestry University, Faculty of Forestry, Hetauda, Nepal

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Economic Valuation of Forest Ecosystem Services, Statistics 

AWARDS/ SCHOLARSHIPS

• Government Merit Scholarship for B. Sc. in Forestry (Agriculture and Forestry University
• Research Grant for Bachelor’s Thesis (Agriculture and Forestry)

TRAININGS

• Wildlife Training to Graduates; Resources Himalaya Foundation, WWF, ZSL
• Arc-GIS Training; Faculty of Forestry, AFU, Nepal
• R/R-Studio, Data Analysis Training; Faculty of Forestry, AFU, Nepal
• Camera Trapping Training for Wildlife Monitoring; Bardia National Park

XUFANG ZHANG

• Ph.D., Post-Doctoral Research Assistant Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University
• Office: PFEN G021, 715 W. State Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907
• Phone: (662) 617-5391
• E-mail: zhan3600@purdue.edu or zxfmichelle@gmail.com
• Personal website: https://xz2359.wixsite.com/xufangzhang

EDUCATION

• Ph.D. in Forest Resources (2018) (Concentration: Forest Policy and Economics), College of Forest Resources, Mississippi State University.
• B. S. in Accounting (2013), College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Forestry University.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Natural resource and environmental economics.
• Natural resource policy and law.
• International trade and trade policy.
• Carbon sequestration and climate change.
• Timberland investment and sustainable forest management.

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

• January 2019-present, Postdoctoral Research Associate, College of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University.
• January 2015-December 2018, Research Assistant, College of Forest Resources, Department of Forestry, Mississippi State University.
• September 2013- December 2015, Research Fellow, Research Center for Economics and Trade in Forest Products of the State Forestry Administration (SINO-RECTFOR).
• Anonymous Reviewer for Canadian Journal of Forest Research, China Population Resources and Environment, and Journal of China Agricultural University. 

PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS

• Zhang, X., and Sun, C. (2018). The Financial Performance of Public Furniture Firms with Different Positions in Antidumping Actions. Forest Science, 64(5): 491-503.
• Sun, C., and Zhang, X. (2018). Duration of U.S. forest products trade. Forest Policy and Economics, 95(2018): 57-68.
• Zhang, X., Yang, H. and Zhang, X. (2016). Development level and trend in Chinese forestry carbon pools from 1989 to 2033. Resources Science, 38(2): 0290-0299 (in Chinese with English abstract).
• Zhang, X., Yang, H. and Yuan T. (2016). Construction of China’s forestry carbon measuring model under the chain of compound structure. China Population, Resources and Environment, 26(4): 80-89 (in Chinese with English abstract).
• Zhang, X., Yang, H., Zhang, X. and Hong, Y. (2015). Projection of global long-term carbon flow in forest product trade from a perspective of climate negotiation: 2010-2030. Fresenius Environmental Bulletin, 24(11): 3679-3685.
• Yang, H., Zhang, X. and Hong, Y. (2014). Classification, production, and carbon stock of harvest wood products in China from 1961 to 2012. BioResource, 9(3): 4311-4322.
• Zhang, X. and Yang, H. (2014). Comparisons of carbon stock and reduction in harvest wood products of China and the United States based on climate change. Forestry Economics, 36(7): 26-37 (in Chinese with English abstract).
• Zhang, X. and Yang, H. (2014). Accounting methods and influences of carbon sequestration in harvest wood products based on climate change issues. Journal of Anhui Agricultural Sciences, 42(7): 2014-2017 (in Chinese with English abstract).
• Zhang, X. and Yang, H. (2013). The cycle of carbon flows in harvest wood products and methods of carbon reduction of the United States. Forestry Economics, 37(12): 58-63 (in Chinese with English abstract).