Department of Forestry Natural Resource Economics and Social Sciences

Ongoing research

• Low value wood and slash (feedstock) availability for biochar production 
• Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) of biochar production 
• Building Woodshed maps (Procurement zones) using wood products market
• Optimal locations for mass timber production 
• Visitor Use measurement techniques in Indiana DNR
• Forest Carbon Inventory and Modeling Needs Assessment

2021 Grants

• Boots on the Ground and Eyes in the Sky: Evaluating a Suite of Visitor Use Measurement Techniques. Indiana Department of Natural Resources (Co-PI; $245,865; Lead: Elizabeth Perry, Michigan State University)
• Building Woodshed Maps for Industry, Extension, and Woodland Owners in the Great Lakes States. USDA NIFA RREA-NFF (Co-PI; $106,200; Lead: Emily Huff, Michigan State University)
• Determining opportunities and challenges for incorporating biochar into a sustainable regional bio-economy. Project GREEEN (Co-PI; $80,000; Lead: Jessica Meisel, Michigan State University)
• Forest Carbon Inventory and Modeling Needs Assessment. USDA Forest Service: Sub Award: Wilson Engineering Services, PC (Co-PI; $47,500; Lead: Kylie Clay, Michigan State University)
• Developing Biochar Extension and Demonstration Programming for Michigan’s Plant Industries. Project GREEEN (Co-PI; $24,942; Lead: Jessica Meisel, Michigan State University

Journal Articles

Please contact the Raju Pokharel if you need any information on following publications. 

1. Visser L., Latta G., Pokharel R., Hoefnagelsa R., & Jungingera M. (2021). Exploring the limits to sustainable pellet production for international markets - The impact of increasing pellet production in the US Southeast on feedstock use and carbon sequestration in forest areas, GCB Bioenergy. (In review).
2. Poudel J. & Pokharel R. (2021). Financial Analysis of Habitat Conservation Banking in the United States. Sustainability, 13(22), 12441.
3. Pokharel R., & Latta G.S. (2020). A network analysis to identify forest merchantability limitations across the United States, Forest Policy and Economics, 116 (102181).
4. Pokharel R., Grala R. K., Latta G.S., Grebner D. L., Grado S. C., & Poudel J., (2019). Availability of logging residues and the likelihood of their utilization for electricity production in the US South, Journal of Forestry, 117(6), 543-559.
5. Pokharel R., Grala R.K., Grebner D.L., & Cooke W.H. (2019). Mill willingness to utilize logging residues to produce electricity: a spatial logistic regression approach, Forest Science, 65(3), 277-288.
6. Pokharel R., Poudel J., Adhikari R., & Sharma A. (2018). Demand and Supply of Forest Products in Bandevi Buffer Zone Community Forest, Chitwan National Park, Nepal. Sustainability in Environment, 3(4), 305–328. 
7. Pokharel R., Poudel J., & Grala, R.K. (2018). Impact of economic factors and a political conflict on international tourism demand in Nepal: A vector error correction model. International Journal of Tourism Policy 8(1), 18–41.
8. Pokharel R., Grala R. K., & Grebner D. L. (2017). Woody residues utilization for bioenergy by primary forest products manufacturers: An exploratory analysis, Forest Policy and Economics, 85 Part 1, 161-171.
9. Pokharel R., Grala R. K., Grebner D. L., & Grado S. C. (2017). Factors affecting utilization of woody residues to produce bioenergy in the southern United States, Biomass and Bioenergy, 105, 278–287.
10. Adhikari R.K., Kindu M., Pokharel R., Castro L.M., & Knoke, T. (2017). Financial compensation for biodiversity conservation in Ba Be National Park of Northern Vietnam. Journal for Nature Conservation 35, 92–100.