Dr. Bharat Sharma Acharya is the Research Director of the Rodale Institute Southeast Organic Center, Chattahoochee Hills, GA. His research interests encompass a range of critical areas, including organic farming, regenerative agriculture, hydrology and water quality, irrigation systems, and unmanned aerial vehicles. Sharma’s primary focus is on the interactions between plant, soil, and water, with particular emphasis on soil health, cover crops, agricultural sustainability, and environmental stewardship.
Sharma holds a B.Sc. in Agriculture from Tribhuvan University (Nepal), M.Sc. in Agro-Environmental Management from Aarhus University (Denmark), and Ph.D. in Natural Resource Ecology and Management from the Oklahoma State University (USA). Before joining Rodale, he served as a senior research associate with the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), Ada Oklahoma through the highly competitive Research Associateship Award from the National Research Council and National Academy of Sciences. He also served as a senior hydrologist in the Oklahoma Department of Mines during 2019-2021. Sharma is an active member of the Regenerative Organic Rice Taskforce with the Regenerative Organic Alliance. Further, he serves as an Associate Editor for the Soil Science Society of America Journal and Technical Editor for the Water Journal. He has received numerous accolades for his work, including the prestigious 2022 Education and Public Service Award from Universities Council on Water Resources and the 2021 Outstanding Associate Editor Award from the Agronomy Journal, American Society of Agronomy.