He worked as a community forestry officer before completing his PhD in natural resources from the University of Tennessee in 2008. He joined UTIA’s faculty in 2013 as an assistant professor where he spends half of his time in research and half teaching. His research areas include natural resource policy, human dimensions of wildlife management, and landowner decision making. Dr. Poudyal’s courseload includes undergraduate and graduate courses focusing on the human and economic dimensions of natural resources. He was awarded a Creative Teaching Fellowship from the UT Teaching and Learning Center in 2014.