Rajesh Thapa

Dr. Rajesh Thapa is a Senior Research Fellow at the School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Australia. With over 20 years of expertise in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and remote sensing, he applies spatial technologies to assess vegetation productivity, biodiversity, and climate change impacts across Asia and Europe.

• PhD in Eco-hydrology (UNE, 2015)
• MPhil in Mountain Ecology (University of Bergen, 2005)
• Master’s in Geography (Tribhuvan University, Nepal)
• Honours in Geography (North Eastern Hill University, India)

His research spans landscape connectivity modeling, species environmental niche analysis, and ecosystem capacity mapping, with significant contributions to koala habitat refugia, 5 million trees connectivity in Greater Sydney, and floodplain vegetation dynamics. Key projects include the BRAHMATWINN and Flash Flood Risk Reduction initiatives.

Recent publications focus on GIS applications in climate adaptation, functional connectivity for conservation, and vegetation response to hydrological extremes. His work integrates remote sensing and data fusion for habitat condition monitoring.

• 2015: Griffith Taylor Cent Prize for PhD excellence
• 2010: International Strategic PhD Scholarship (UNE)
• 2003–2005: Norwegian Government Scholarship

As co-supervisor for Devraj Chalise’s PhD (2020), he mentors in GIS and ecological modeling. Grants include $198K for Koala Strategy, $90K for Green Cover Analysis, and $60K for Alpine Climate Change Impacts. His consultancy interests cover species refugia prediction and land use change modeling.