Bharat Sharma Acharya, Ph.D.

Research Director, Southeast Organic Center

Email: bharat.acharya@rodaleinstitute.org
Phone: 610-683-1422
Address: 7850 Rico Rd, Chattahoochee Hills GA 30268

Dr. Bharat Sharma Acharya is the Research Director of the Southeast Organic Center, Chattahoochee Hills, GA. His research interests encompass a range of critical areas, including organic farming, regenerative agriculture, hydrology and water quality, irrigation systems, and unmanned aerial vehicles. Sharma’s primary focus is on the interactions between plant, soil, and water, with particular emphasis on soil health, agricultural sustainability, and environmental quality.

Sharma holds a B.Sc. in Agriculture from Tribhuvan University (Nepal), M.Sc. in Agro-Environmental Management from Aarhus University (Denmark), and Ph.D. in Natural Resource Ecology and Management from the Oklahoma State University (USA). Before joining Rodale, he served as a senior research associate with the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), Ada Oklahoma through the highly competitive Research Associateship Award from the National Research Council and National Academy of Sciences. He also served as a senior hydrologist in the Oklahoma Department of Mines during 2019-2021. Currently, Sharma serves as an Associate Editor for the Soil Science Society of America Journal and Technical Editor for the Water Journal. He has received numerous accolades for his work, including the prestigious 2022 Education and Public Service Award from Universities Council on Water Resources and the 2021 Outstanding Associate Editor Award from the Agronomy Journal, American Society of Agronomy.

Select Publications

2023

Dhal S., Wyatt, B., Mahanta, S., Bhattarai, N., Sharma, S., Rout, T., Saud P., Acharya, B.S*., 2023. Internet of Things (IoT) in digital agriculture: An overview. Agronomy Journal 00: 1– 20.
Nilahyane, A., Ghimire, R., Acharya, B.S, Schipanski, M.E., West, C.P., Obour, A.K., 2023. Overcoming agricultural sustainability challenges in water-limited environments through soil heath and water conservation: Insights from the Ogallala Aquifer region, USA. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, 21:1, 2211484.
Park, J.H., Yun, J.J., Park, J.H., Acharya, B.S., Han, K.J., Cho, J.S., Kang, S.W., 2023. Three years of biochar and straw application could reduce greenhouse gas and improve rice productivity. Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, 1-9.
Halihan, T., Acharya, B.S., Hager, J.P., Guertault, L., Fox, G.A., 2023. Preferential flow velocity mapping of alluvial soil using temporal electrical resistivity imaging. Discover Water, 3(1), 1.

2022

Yun, J.J., Park, J.H., Acharya, B.S., Park, J.H., Cho, J.S. and Kang, S.W., 2022. Production of Pelleted Biochar and Its Application as an Amendment in Paddy Condition for Reducing Methane Fluxes.  Agriculture, 12(4), 470.
Adhikari, K., Smith, D.R., Collins, H., Hajda, C., Acharya, B.S., Owens, P.R., 2022. Mapping Within-Field Soil Health Variations Using Apparent Electrical Conductivity, Topography, and Machine Learning. Agronomy, 12(5), 1019.
Acharya, B.S.*, Bhandari, M. 2022. Machine learning and unmanned aerial vehicles in water quality monitoring. Sustainable Horizons, 3, 100019.
Sharma, S., Dhal, S., Rout, T., Acharya B.S*., 2022. Drones and machine learning for estimating forest carbon storage. Carbon Research.
Ray, R.L., Singh, V., Singh, S.K., Acharya, B.S., He, Y., 2022. What is the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on global carbon emissions? Science of the Total Environment, 816, 151503.
Acharya, B.S., Ahmmed, B., Chen, Y., Davison, J.H., Haygood, L., Hensley, R.T., Kumar, R., Lerback, J., Liu, H., Mehan, S., Mehana, M., Patil, S.D., Persaud, B.D., Sullivan, P.L., URycki, D., 2022. Hydrological perspectives on Integrated, Coordinated, Open, Networked (ICON) science. Earth and Space Science, 9, e2022EA002320.

2021

Acharya, B.S*., Bhandari, M., Bandini, F., Pizarro, A., Perks, M., Joshi, D.R., Wang, S., Dogwiler, T., Ray, R.L., Kharel, G., Sharma, S., 2021. Unmanned aerial vehicles in hydrology and water management: Applications, challanges and prespectives. Water Resources Research, 57(11), e2021WR029925.
Tiruwa, D.B., Khanal, B.R., Lamichhane, S., Acharya B.S., 2021. Soil erosion estimation using Geographic Information System (GIS) and Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) in the Siwalik Hills of Nawalparasi, Nepal. Journal of Water and Climate Change, 12 (5), 1958–1974.

2020

Acharya, B.S*., Kharel, G., 2020. Acid mine drainage from coal mining in the United States – An overview. Journal of Hydrology, 588, 125061.
Blanco‐Canqui, H., Laird, D.A., Heaton, E.A., Rathke, S. and Acharya, B.S., 2020. Soil carbon increased by twice the amount of biochar carbon applied after 6 years: Field evidence of negative priming. GCB Bioenergy, 12(4), 240-251.
Maharjan, B., Das, S., Acharya, B.S., 2020. Soil health gap: A concept to establish a benchmark for soil health management. Global Ecology and Conservation, 23, e01116.
Wang, E., Cruse, R., Acharya B.S., Herzmann, D., Gelder, B., James, D.E., Flanagan, D., Blanco-canqui, H., Mitchell, R.B., Laird, D., 2020. Strategic switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) production within row cropping systems: Regional scale assessment of soil erosion loss and water runoff impacts. Global Change Biology Bioenergy, 12, 955-967.

2019

Acharya, B.S*., Blanco-Canqui, H., Mitchell, R.B., Cruse, R. Laird, D., 2019. Dedicated bioenergy crops and water erosion. Journal of Environmental Quality. 48, 485-492.
Acharya, B.S., Dodla, S., Gaston, L., Darapuneni, M., Wang, J.J., Sepat, S., Bohara, H., 2019. Winter cover crops effect on soil moisture, and soybean growth and yield under different tillage systems. Soil and Tillage Research, 195, 104430.
Bohara, H., Dodla, S., Wang, J.J., Darapunenic, M., Acharya, B.S., Magdi, S., Payuluri, K., 2019. Influence of poultry litter and biochar on soil water dynamics and nutrient leaching from a very fine sandy loam soil. Soil and Tillage Research, 189, 44-51.

2018

Acharya, B.S*., Blanco-Canqui, H., 2018. Lignocellulosic-based bioenergy crops and water quality parameters: A review. Global Change Biology Bioenergy, 10, 504-533.
Acharya, B.S., Kharel G., Zou, C.B., Wilcox, B.P., Halihan, T., 2018. Woody plant encroachment impacts on groundwater recharge: A review. Water, 10 (10), 1466.
Zou, C.B., Tidwell, D., Bielski, C., Fogarty, D., Mittelstet, A., Starks, P., Will, R., Zhong, Y., Acharya, B.S., 2018. Impact of eastern redcedar proliferation on water resources in the Great Plains USA – Current state of knowledge. Water, 10 (2), 1768.

2017

Acharya, B.S., Halihan, T., Zou, C.B., Will, R.E., 2017c. Vegetation controls on spatio-temporal heterogenity of deep moisture in the unsaturated zone: A hydrogeophysical evaluation. Nature Scientific Reports, 7(1), 1499.
Acharya, B.S., Hao, Y., Ochsner, T.E., Zou, C.B., 2017b. Woody plant encroachment alters soil hydrolgical properties and reduces downward flux of water in tallgrass prairie. Plant and Soil, 414, 379-391.
Acharya, B.S., Stebler, E., Zou, C.B., 2017a. Monitoring litter interception of rainfall using leaf wetness sensor under controlled and field conditions. Hydrological Processes, 31, 240-249.
Ghimire, R., Lamichhane, S., Acharya, B.S., Bista, P., Sainju, U.M., 2017. Tillage, crop residue, and nutrient management effects on soil organic carbon sequestration in rice-based cropping systems: A review. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 16(1), 1-15.

2014

Paudel, B., Acharya, B.S*., Ghimire, R., Dahal, K.R., Bista, P., 2014. Adapting agriculture to climate change and variability in Chitwan: Long-term trends and farmers’ perception. Agricultural Research 3(2), 165-174.
Khanal, B.R., Shah, S.C., Sah, S.K., Shriwastav, C.P., Acharya B.S., 2014. Heavy metals accumulation in cauliflower (Brassica Oleracea L. var. botrytis) grown in brewery sludge amended sandy loam soil. International Journal of Agricultural Sciences and Technology 2(3), 87-92.

2013

Shrestha, D., Srivastava, A., Shakya, S.M., Khadka, J., Acharya, B.S., 2013. Use of compost supplemented human urine in sweet pepper (Capsicum annum L.) production. Scientia Horticulturae 153, 8-12.

2012

Acharya, B.S., Rasmussen, J., Eriksen, J., 2012. Grassland carbon sequestration and emissions following cultivation in a mixed crop rotation. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 153, 33-39.