Biography of Karun Pandit
Karun Pandit is a quantitative forest ecologist with research interests in forest health monitoring, forest disturbance modeling, change detection methods, and ecological forecasting. He was appointed in 2023 as an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources at North Carolina State University, serving as a cooperator with the Eastern Threat Center and the Southern Research Station. He contributes to national reporting efforts in Forest Health Monitoring as an editor, technical writer, and analyst. Karun earned a PhD in forest monitoring, analysis, and modeling from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. He has also worked as a research scholar at NCSU, and as a postdoctoral researcher at Boise State University and the University of Florida. Some of his recent research includes understanding vegetation dynamics following disturbances in the Western US, exploring spatiotemporal patterns of forest disturbances and recovery across the conterminous US, and forecasting forest diseases for alternate climate conditions.
Contact Karun at Karun.Pandit@usda.gov or 919-549-4076.
