Ram Pandit

Associate Professor, MS SUNY, ESF; MS/PhD Auburn University

  • The University of Western Australia (M089), 35 Stirling Highway,

    6009 Perth

    Australia

  • The University of Western Australia (M578), 35 Stirling Highway,

    6009 Perth

    Australia

Accepting PhD and other Higher Degree by Research Students. View current PhD/HDR research project opportunities at https://researchdegrees.uwa.edu.au/projects

Calculated based on number of publications stored in Pure and citations from PlumX

Personal profile

Biography

Being grown up in a Nepalese village, I have experienced closely the role of forests on subsistence economy, which partly led me to pursue undergraduate study in Forestry Sciences from Tribhuwan University (Institute of Forestry) in Nepal. Upon completion of BSc in 1994, I initially worked as an Agro-ecological Research Site Coordinator at Lumle Agricultural Research Centre, a centre funded by the then ODA of the British Government, for 3 years (1995-1998) and later worked with the Government of Nepal (Department of Forests) as a Forester for 3 years (1998-2001). The Fulbright Scholarship in 2001 took me to the State University of New York, College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry to pursue Master’s degree in Forest Resources Management. As a part of Master’s thesis I conducted a research to examine the impacts of Community Forestry on forest products supply and environmental outcomes among selected community forests in Nepal. A PhD research assistantship offer from Auburn University to work on ‘human dimensions of species fragility’ took me to Auburn in 2003 for an Applied Economics PhD, which I completed in 2007. With the change in focus from forest resource management to applied economics, I studied economics and statistics while pursuing PhD that eventually led me to earn MS in Economics and MS in Probability and Statistics degrees. In my PhD research, I analysed socio-economic determinants of threatened species among countries using spatial econometric techniques. Then prior to joining UWA in 2009, I spent 2 years at Auburn as a Postdoctoral Fellow working on an urban forestry project that examined the economic impact of tree shade on energy consumption in urban homes.

Future research

Conservation and development
Ecotourism and cultural tourism
Proected area management
Land degradation and restoration
Soil conservation and watershed management
Effectivenss of land degradation responses
Economics of biodiversity conservation
Biodiversity offsets
Payment for ecosystem services
Valuation of threatened species
Valuation of urban greenery
Forest economics and policy

Funding overview

9) 2022 PI "The impacts of commodity price increase on household welfare: The case of South Sulawesi, Indonesia" with Anas Iswanto Anwar, Universitas Hasunuddin; DFAT, Australia Indonesia Centre, PAIR: Partnership for Australia-Indonesia Research, AICPAIRTWP16 (AUD 40,720)
8) 2020 PI “Impact Evaluation of Protected Area Management Policy on Household Welfare in Nepal” with Yoko Saito and Takumi Kondo, Hokkaido University; KAKENHI – Grants in Aid Program of the Japanese Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS), (JY 4,920,000 = ~AU$64K)
7) 2019 CI “Essays on the Economics of Soil Quality in Pakistan’s Punjab: Productive Efficiency, Adoption (or dis-adoption) and Willingness to Pay for Land Restoration Schemes” with Amin Mugera and Asjad Tariq Sheikh; International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington D.C., USA US$42,757 (AU$63,608)
6) 2019 CI “Project 6.6  - Key factors for effective partner integration and governance for threatened species recovery” with Stephen Garnett (CDU), Simon Nally (Department of Environment), John Woinarski (CDU), Rachel Morgain (ANU); National Environmental Science Program, Threatened Species Recovery Hub, Department of the Environment and Energy, Australian Government, AU$130,000 NESP (AU$44,000 In-kind), 2019-2020.
5) 2015 CI “Threatened Species Recovery Hub” with David Pannell, Richard Hobbs and Nicola Mitchell, University of Queensland ex-National Environmental Science Program NESP, Department of the Environment and Energy, Australian Government, AU$1,508,010.00, 2015-2020.
4) 2015 [Co-Project Leader] of “Project 6.1 Quantifying benefits and costs of threatened-species management in rural and regional economies”, with David Pannell, Kerstin Zander (CDU) and Stephen Garnett (CDU); National Environmental Science Program, Threatened Species Recovery Hub, Department of the Environment and Energy, Australian Government, AU$503,000 (AU$826,048 In-kind), 2015-2020.
3) 2013 PI ‘Forests, Ecosystem Services and Communities: Lessons from Nepal Himalaya’, UWA Research Collaboration Award, AU$ 11,583 (with R. Marchant of York, S. Sallu of Leeds).
2) 2012-2013 CI ‘Resilient pasts and sustainable futures? The social-ecological dynamics of East African landscapes in temporal, spatial and social perspectives’, World Universities Network Development Fund, £20K (with R. Marchant of York, S. Sallu of Leeds and Petra Tschakert of Penn State).
1) 2011-2012 PI ‘The value of urban trees in the Perth metropolitan area: a hedonic analysis of home sale prices, UWA Research Development Award, AU$ 24,178 (with M. Polyakov and R. Sadler).

Previous positions

IPBES Engagement:
   2018-2022: Lead Author, Values Assessment
   2015-2018: Co-ordinating Lead Author, Thematic Assessment of Land
        Degradation and Restoration
   2015-2018: Lead Author, Regional Assessment of Biodiversity and
         Ecosystem Services in Asia-Pacific
   2014-2017: Expert, Conceptualization of value and developing 
         methodological guideline and scoping report for values assessment.
08/2008-present: Affiliate Researcher, Ecosystem Dynamics and Global Ecology Lab, Auburn University, USA
08/2007-06/2009: Postdoctoral Fellow, Auburn University, USA
08/2003-07/2007: Graduate Research Assistant, Auburn University, USA
08/1998-07/2001: Forest Officer, Department of Forests, Nepal
08/1995-07/1998: Agro-ecological Research Site Co-ordinator, Lumle Agricultural Research Centre, Nepal
01/1989-07/1991: Forest Ranger, Lumle Agricultural Research Centre, Nepal

Teaching overview

ECON5001 Economic Development in Theory and Practice
ECON4410 Environmental and Resource Economics
SCIE3366 Project and Risk Management
ECON2224 Environmental Economics 2

Research

Natural resource economics
Environmental economics
Application of economic valuation techniques (hedonic pricing)
Forest policy and management
Urban and community forestry
Payment for ecosystem services
Ecotourism and protected area management
Biodiversity conservation
Valuation of threatened species

Languages

English
Nepali
Hindi

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 1 - No Poverty
  • SDG 2 - Zero Hunger
  • SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy
  • SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth
  • SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
  • SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities
  • SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
  • SDG 13 - Climate Action
  • SDG 14 - Life Below Water
  • SDG 15 - Life on Land

Education/Academic qualification

Applied Economics (Forestry), PhD, Auburn University

15 Aug 20034 Aug 2007

Award Date: 4 Aug 2007

Economics, MS, Auburn University

15 Aug 200311 Dec 2006

Award Date: 11 Dec 2006

Probability and Statistics, MS, Auburn University

15 Aug 200311 May 2006

Award Date: 11 May 2006

Forest Resources Management, MS, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

16 Aug 200131 Jul 2003

Award Date: 3 Aug 2003

Forestry Sciences, BSc, Tribhuvan University

1 Dec 199131 Dec 1994

Award Date: 18 Apr 1995

External positions

Visiting Professor, Hokkaido University

1 Apr 2018 → …

Industry keywords

  • Built Environment
  • Environmental
  • Mining and Resources
  • Government
  • Agriculture and Food

Research expertise keywords

  • Biodiversity conservation
  • Ecosystem services
  • Environmental economics and policy
  • Forest economics and policy (including REDD+)
  • Human dimensions of wildlife
  • Hedonic pricing
  • Natural resource economics and management
  • Non-market valuation
  • Protected area management
  • Spatial econometrics
  • Urban forestry
  • Threatened species
  • Community forestry
  • Payment for ecosystem services
  • Land degradation
  • Economics of restoration
  • Policy instruments

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