kabiraj.khatiwada (at) gmail (dot) com
kabik (at) uark (dot) edu
Contact No: +1-479-601-9380
Senior Graduate Assistant
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701

PhD student || Environmental Dynamics program || Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering
Research area: climate change, greenhouse gases, methane emission, data analysis, modelling
Experience of working as water resources analyst in International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD); an intergovernmental, regional research and learning hub, based in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Peer-reviewed articles

Nepal, S., Khatiwada, K. R., Pradhananga, S., Kralisch, S., Samyn, D., Bromand, M. T., ... & Chevallier, P. (2021). Future snow projections in a small basin of the Western Himalaya. Science of The Total Environment, Volume 795, 148587. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148587

Khatiwada, K. R., & Pandey, V. P. (2019). Characterization of hydro-meteorological drought in Nepal Himalaya: A case of Karnali River Basin. Weather and Climate Extremes, 26, 100239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wace.2019.100239

Panthi, J., Khatiwada, K. R., Shrestha, M. L., & Dahal, P. (2018). Water poverty in the context of climate change: a case study from Karnali river basin in Nepal Himalaya. International Journal of River Basin Management, 17(2), 243-250. https://doi.org/10.1080/15715124.2018.1531421

Khatiwada, K. R., Panthi, J., Shrestha, M. L., & Nepal, S. (2016). Hydro-climatic variability in the Karnali River basin of Nepal Himalaya. Climate, 4(2), 17. https://doi.org/10.3390/cli4020017

Book chapter

Nepal, S., Shrestha, A. B., Vaidya, R. A., Wester, P., Khatiwada, K. R., Pradhan, N. S., Bastola, A., Belbase, M., Faqiryar, J. N. (2019). Module 1: Conceptual understanding of river basin drivers and their implications for Integrated River Basin Management. In S. Nepal, A. B. Shrestha, C. G. Goodrich, A. Mishra, A. Prakash, S. Bhuchar, L. A. Vasily, V. Khadgi, & N. S. Pradhan (Eds). Multi-scale Integrated River Basin Management from a Hindu Kush Himalayan perspective (pp. 1–5), Kathmandu, ICIMOD; ISBN:978 92 9115 6818 (printed).

Training Manual

Nepal, S., Khatiwada, K. R., Pradhananga, S., Kralisch, S. (2020). Application of the J2000 Hydrological Model in the Panjshir catchment of the Hindu Kush Himalayan Region, Training Manual, ICIMOD; ISBN:978 92 9115 695 5 (electronic).

Conference presentations

  • Khatiwada, K. R., Runkle B., Moon J.B., Stinchcomb, G. E., El Masri, B.; Modeling methane dynamics in a bottomland hardwood wetland. In Department of Energy's Environmental System Science (ESS) PI Meeting, May 16-17, 2023, Bethesda, MD, USA (Poster)
  • Khatiwada, K. R., Pandey V.P.; Characterization of hydro-meteorological drought in Nepal Himalaya, case studies from Nepal, In International Conference on Sudurpaschim Studies, 12 December 2022, Online, Nepal (Oral)
  • Khatiwada, K. R., Nepal S., Pandey V.P.; Hydro climatology of Karnali River Basin, Nepal, The 4th International Conference on Mountains in the Changing World, October 18-19, 2019, Kathmandu, Nepal (Oral)
  • Khatiwada, K. R., Pandey V.P.; Assessment of meteorological drought using different approaches in the Karnali River Basin, Nepal; Eight Asian Regional Conference (ARC) organized by Nepal National Committee of International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (NENCID), 2-4 May 2018, Kathmandu, Nepal (Oral)
  • Khatiwada, K. R., Nepal S., Dhamala M.K.; Understanding climatic variability and its impact on the hydrology of Karnali river basin, Nepal Himalaya using J2000 hydrological model; Third International Conference on Mountain Hydrology and Meteorology for the Sustainable Development, 10-11 April 2017, Kathmandu, Nepal (Oral)
  • Khatiwada, K. R., Panthi J., Shrestha M.; Hydro-climatic trends in Karnali river basin of Nepal Himalaya; International Conference on Climate Change Innovation and Resilience for Sustainable Livelihood, 12-14 January 2015, Kathmandu, Nepal (Poster)

Work experience

Graduate Research Assistant (Aug 2022 -- Present)
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas
- Analyzing climate conditions and methane emissions in the study area
Water Resources Analyst (Dec 2018 -- July 2022)
International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)
- Developed the glacio-hydrological model, in river basin of Himalayan region, for water balance assessment
- Analyzed the future climate scenario and extreme events for the study area
- Operationalized Multi-scale Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) approach for water resouce management
Hydrological modeller, Consultant (April -- Nov 2018)
International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)
- Conducted Training on hydrological modelling using JAMS/J2000 hydrological model from 25 October to 4 November 2018 in New Delhi, India, for professionals and academics.
- Prepared training manual and materials for the hydrological modeling
Research Associate (Feb 2018 -- Nov 2018)
The Small Earth Nepal (SEN)
Developed the algorithm for the Aakaashepani mobile application which supports in decision making on the rainwater harvesting, for APN project
- Analyzed the observed meteorological data, compared the reanalysis data, for NAST project
- Co-developed a training curriculum on watershed management practices for different geographical regions, for PAANI project
- Co-developed the proposals, for the different opportunities
Research Intern (Aug 2014 -- Oct 2015)
The Small Earth Nepal (SEN)
- Analyzed hydro-climatic data of the Karnali river basin, for Runoff Scenario and Water Based Adaptation Strategies in South Asia
- Calculated the water poverty index for Karnali river basin.

Award / Grant

  • Student Travel Award
    To participate Department of Energy's Environmental System Science (ESS) Program, annual Principal Investigators (PI) Meeting, at Hyatt Regency Bethesda in Bethesda, MD, on May 16-17, 2023.

Fellowship

  • Young Research Fellow (2017 - 2018), Center of Research for Environment, Energy, and Water (CREEW)
    Explored he drought dynamics in western Nepal; compared different drought indices, selected suitable indices to represent drought scenario in the region; quantified major drought events

Thesis supervision

  • Co-supervisor, Prabesh Dhungana, M. Sc. thesis 2019, Central Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, Tribhuvan University.
    Thesis title: Contributions of snow and ice melt in the flow regime of Khumbu catchment, Mt. Everest region
  • Co-supervisor, Bashudev Neupane, M. Sc. thesis 2018, Central Department of Environmental Science, Tribhuvan University
    Thesis title: Water Availability and Impacts of Landuse Landcover change study in Marshyangdi River Basin

Workshop/Presentation for technical audiance

  • Training on the Regional climate change projections: Climate change analysis using CORDEX regional climate models over South Asia; during 12-21 October 2020
  • Training on the Resilient watersheds for integrated river basin management; during 06 October 2020 to 16 October 2020
  • Training on the Impact of Climate Change on Kabul River Basin using the JAMS/J2000 Modelling System; at ICIMOD, Nepal, during 06-16 November 2019
  • On the Job, and Refresher Training for water avaliability analysis in the selected basins using the JAMS/J2000 modelling approach; at ICIMOD, Nepal, during April-May 2019 and Sept 2019, respectively.
  • Training workshop on Hydrological Modelling using JAMS/J2000; at New Delhi, India, during 25 October - 5 November 2018
  • Practical demonstration exercise on the use of the hydrological model to study the impact of climate change on snowmelt and water availability (co-lead) at Science and training workshop on Climate Change over the High Mountains of Asia; at IITM, Pune, India, during 08-12 October 2018
  • Session on the efficient use of the tools such as Open Data Kit (ODK) or KoBoToolbox for collecting, managing, and using data at Graduates Hive: Synergizing Knowledge on Biodiversity, during May 2018

Guest lecture

  • The application of hydrological model J2000 in context of changing climate and water resource management in the Himalayan Basin”, at Central Department of Environmental Science, Tribhuvan University,during February 2019/20 at GoldenGate College on April 2019/20

Short consultancies/Engagements

  • Disaster risk reduction and climate change mitigation consultant (May 2016- Feb 2017), prepared the Local Climate Adaptation and Disaster Risk Management Plan for Village Development Committee (VDC)s, (Gaunpalika), of Provience 1 and 3, Nepal
  • Climate Change Expert (June 2018), for Climate Smart watershed Management in the Thuligaad Watershed, Karnali River Basin being part of CREEW. Provided technical support for the preparation watershed management plan

Trainings and certifications

  • Science and training workshop on Climate Change over the High Mountains of Asia Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune (8-12 October 2018).
    Acquainted with the climate modeling and regional downscaling
  • APHRODITE Data Interpolation Training (Nov 2017).
    Experienced on how locally available station data are integrated in APHRODITE algorithm to make robust interpolation
  • Graduate Course on Surface Water and Groundwater Interaction in South Asia (Nov 2016).
    Versed the soil water interaction, their engineering properties, and applicability of different surface-groundwater models

Tools and applications

  • R (Competent)
  • Python (Beginner)

Education background

  • M.Sc. Environmental Science with specialization in Climate Change
    Central Department Of Environmental Science, Tribhuvan University (TU)
    (2011-2016) Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal
    Master’s dissertation: Climatic Variability and its impact on hydrology of the Karnali River Basin, Nepal, 2016
  • B.Sc. Environmental Science
    Tri Chandra Multiple Campus, Tribhuvan University (TU)
    (2008-2010) Ghantaghar, Kathmandu, Nepal
  • Intermediate level, Science
    National Integrated College, Higher Secondary Education Board
    (2006-2007) Dillibazar, Kathmandu, Nepal

Vote of thanks:
Thank you for going through my CV. I am looking forward to hearing from you, exchanging thoughts, reflections or ideas.
Thanks to Yen-Chia ( http://yenchiah.me/) for sharing the code in github.