Suraj Upadhaya

Suraj Upadhaya, PhD, is a social-ecological researcher at the Bioeconomy Institute at Iowa State University. His research and teaching are in the areas of socio-ecological systems and human dimensions of natural resource management. Currently, he is collaborating with researchers and faculties from different departments through the project "Consortium for Cultivating Human And Naturally reGenerative Enterprises" (C-CHANGE), and Iowa State University Presidential Interdisciplinary Research Initiative.

Suraj understands that emerging challenges associated with environmental change on multiple scales span disciplinary boundaries and necessitate interdisciplinary approaches to better our understanding of social-ecological dimensions. His expertise lies in ecosystem services, natural resource management and policy, land-use change modeling, water resource conservation and management, and social-ecological systems (SES) coupled with experience in human dimensions of natural resources. His academic research has trained him to integrate theories from social and natural sciences and use intensive fieldwork with complex modeling approaches to produce comprehensive research on social-ecological sustainability. He received a doctorate in integrative conservation of nature and forestry from the University of Georgia, USA, a master's in forestry from the University of Kentucky, USA, and a bachelors' degree from Tribhuvan University, Nepal.