Sushma Poudel

I'm a first-year PhD student in the Water Cycle and Tree Rings Lab, where I will study the connections between forests and water. My research interests are in understanding tree rings and hydrological models to reconstruct past climate conditions, essentially reading the history written into tree growth rings to understand how climate and water availability have shifted over time.

Before starting my PhD, I spent two years in academia, where I worked on a forest hydrology project and a project exploring forests as a tool for climate resilience in Nepal. That work gave me a close look at how forested watersheds respond to environmental stress, and it's what pulled me toward the kind of long-term, reconstruction-based research  I will be doing now - combining dendrochronology with hydrological modeling to piece together climate patterns from the past.

Outside of the research, I like to sketch, play soccer, and go for the occasional hike or walk (small ways to disconnect and recharge).