CV

Pradip Poudel

Email: pmp5548@psu.edu, Phone number: (502) 330-0588, Webpage,  LinkedIn,  Google Scholar

EDUCATION

Ph.D. in Agriculture and Environmental Plant Science                                                        May 2025

The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA

Dissertation: “Zinc biofortification of microgreens using different agronomic approaches”

M.S. in Environmental Studies                                                                                                  May 2021                                                                       

Kentucky State University, Frankfort, KY

Thesis: “Optimizing Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) Production in Green Roof Systems: Effects of Planting Depth and Bacillus subtilis Treatment​”

B.S. in Agriculture Science                                                                                                         Aug 2018

Agriculture and Forestry University, Rampur, Nepal

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Controlled environment agriculture, Urban horticulture, Soilless crop production, Efficient use of resources, Agronomic biofortification of vegetable crops, Sustainable crop production, Alternative growing media, Environmental crop physiology, Nutritional quality, Metabolomics, Alternative high-value crops, and Agrobiodiversity  

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

June 2025- Present          Postdoctoral Scholar,  The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA                                                            

Aug 2021- May 2025      Graduate Research Assistant, The Pennsylvania State University, University

                                      Park, PA                                                      

Aug 2019- May 2021      Graduate Research Assistant, Kentucky State University, Frankfort, KY

Dec 2017- July 2018   Undergraduate Research Intern, Prime Minister Agriculture Modernization

                               Project (PMAMP), Dang, Nepal

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Aug 2022- Dec 2024   Graduate Teaching Assistant, The Pennsylvania State University, 

                                         University Park, PA

                                         Courses: Plant Nutrition (HRT 402W) and Deciduous Tree Fruits (HRT 432)

Dec 2018- July 2019       High School Teacher, Panchakanya Higher Secondary School, Bhojpur, Nepal

                        Courses: Introduction to Horticultural Science, Introduction to Soil Science, and

                                        Introduction to Agronomy               

JOURNAL PUBLICATIONs

1.     Poudel, P., Jeffries, J.A., Bai, J., Dorado, C., Rosskopf, E., and Di Gioia, F. (2025). Radish Microgreen Metabolomic Profile in Response to Zinc Biofortification and Light Intensity. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.5c03574.

2.     Poudel, P., Jeffries, J.A., Bai, J., Dorado, C., Rosskopf, E., and Di Gioia, F. (2025). Light intensity and Zinc biofortification differentially impact the metabolomic profile of pea microgreens. Food Chemistry. 490, 145146. Doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2025.145146

3.     Poudel, P. and Di Gioia, F. (2025). Evaluation of alternative soilless growing systems for resource use efficiency, yield, and quality performance of multi-leaf lettuce. Acta Horticulturae. 1426, 325-332. DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2025.1426.45

4.     Mather, T., Siva, N., Jauregui, M., Poudel, P., de Lima Brossi, M. J., Lambert, J. D., Di Gioia, F., Connolly, E. L., and Anderson, C. T. (2024). Nutritional composition of post-catastrophic foods. CurrentProtocols, 4, e1110. Doi: 10.1002/cpz1.1110

5.     Poudel, P., Connolly, E.L., Kwasniewski, M., Lambert, J.D., and. Di Gioia, F. (2024). Zinc Biofortification Via Fertigation Using Alternative Zinc Sources and Concentration Levels in Pea, Radish, and Sunflower Microgreens. Scientia Horticulturae. 331, 113098. Doi: 10.1016/j.scienta.2024.113098

6.     Whittinghill, L., Jackson, C., and Poudel, P. (2024). The Effects of Annual Compost Addition to Agricultural Green Roofs on Runoff Water Quality. HortScience, 59(3), 307-322. Doi: 10.21273/HORTSCI17556-23

7.     Poudel, P., Whittinghill, L., Kobayashi, H., and Lucas, S. (2023). Evaluation of the effect of planting depth and Bacillus subtilis treatment on saffron (Crocus sativus L.) production in the green roof production system. HortScience 58(10) 1267-1274. Doi: 10.21273/HORTSCI17220-23

8.     Whittinghill, L., Ballard, M., Chaudhary, A., Kandel, S., Mullins, C. and Poudel, P. (2023). Runoff water quality from different urban agricultural systems using common nutrient management practices. HortScience, 58(8), 855-870. Doi: 10.21273/HORTSCI17215-23

9. Poudel, P., Duenas, A., and Di Gioia, F. (2023). Organic Waste Compost and Spent Mushroom Compost as Potential Growing Media Components for the Sustainable Production of Microgreens. Frontier in Plant Science. 14: 1229157. Doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1229157

10.  Paudel, D., Neupane, R. C., Sigdel, S., Poudel, P., & Khanal, A. R. (2023). COVID-19 Pandemic, Climate Change, and Conflicts on Agriculture: A Trio of Challenges to Global Food Security. Sustainability, 15(10), 8280. Doi: 10.3390/su15108280

11.  Poudel, P., Di Gioia, F., Lambert, J.D., and Connolly, E.L. (2023). Zinc biofortification through seed nutri-priming using alternative zinc sources and concentration levels in pea and sunflower microgreens. Frontier in Plant Science. 14:1177844. Doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1177844.

12.  Whittinghill, L. and Poudel, P. (2020). Yields of relay-cropped greens grown in green roof production systems. Urban Food Systems Symposium. https://newprairiepress.org/ufss/2020/proceedings/15  

BOOK CHAPTER

1. Poudel, P., Connolly, E.L., Di Gioia, F. (2025). Agronomic Approaches to Zinc Biofortification in Soil and Soilless Crops. In: Srivastava, S., Kaur, H. (eds) Zinc in Soil-Plant Continuum. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-4253-3_9

2. Poudel, P., Petropoulos, S. A., and Di Gioia, F. (2023). Plant Tocopherols and Phytosterols and Their Bioactive Properties. In Natural Secondary Metabolites: From Nature, Through Science, to Industry (pp. 285-319). Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-18587-8_8

EXTENSION PUBLICATIONs

1. Poudel, P., Whittinghill, L., and Kobayashi, H. (2020) Saffron harvesting and processing to optimize yield and quality (Fact Sheet). Saffron Types and Quality Indicators. https://www.kysu.edu/documents/school-of-agriculture-communities-and-the-environment/urbanag_saffrontypes_121921_accessible.pdf

2. Poudel, P., Whittinghill, L., and Kobayashi, H. (2020) Saffron harvesting and processing to optimize yield and quality (Fact Sheet). https://www.kysu.edu/documents/school-of-agriculture-communities-and-the-environment/urbanag_saffronharvesting_fs21-accessible-092021.pdf

3.     Poudel, P., Whittinghill, L., and Kobayashi, H. (2020) Saffron: a high-value crop (Fact Sheet). https://www.kysu.edu/documents/school-of-agriculture-communities-and-the-environment/urbanag_saffronahighvaluecrop_fs21-accessible-092021.pdf

MANUSCRIPT IN PREPARATION

1. Migicovsky, Z., Bozzolo, A.,  Awale, M., Chitwood, D.H., Poudel, P., and Misha T. Kwasniewski (2025). Rootstock and irrigation have distinct effects on Chambourcin vines, berries, and wine. (In preparation). Targeted Journal. Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research

2. Poudel, P., Connolly, E. L. and Di Gioia, F. (2025). Zinc Biofortification and Light Intensity Independently Modulate Zinc Bioaccessibility, Minerals, Phytochemicals, and Yield Components of Pea and Radish Microgreens. Preprints available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5132351  or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5132351 (In peer-review; Future Foods)

3. Poudel, P., Rosskopf, E., and Di Gioia, F. (2025), Metabolic and Nutritional Dynamics in Radish Microgreens: Influence of Zinc and Light Intensity. (Accepted, Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry)

4. Poudel, P., Trandel, M., Bai, J., Rosskopf, E., and Di Gioia, F. (2025). Comparative metabolomic analysis for the effect of growing temperature and light intensity on the pea, radish, and sunflower microgreens.  (In Preparation). Target journal: Plant Physiology and Biochemistry

5. Poudel, P., Rosskopf, E., and Di Gioia, F. (2025). Unveiling the Potential of Microgreens as a Target Crop for Zinc Agronomic Biofortification: A Review. (In preparation). Targeted Journal. Trends in Food Science & Technology

6. Poudel, P., Bai, J., Rosskopf, E., and Di Gioia, F. (2025). Environmental Temperature and Radiation Intensity Effect on Growth Rate and Nutritional Quality of Pea, Radish, and Sunflower Microgreens. (In Preparation). Target journal: Scientia Horticulturae

7. Poudel, P., and Di Gioia, F. (2025). Integrated Assessment of Soilless Systems for Amaranthus: Yield Performance, Nutrient Efficiency, and Metabolomic Shifts. (In preparation). Target journal: HortScience

8. García-Rodríguez, R. O., Poudel, P., Di Gioia, F., Knecht, S. D., Kazemi, A., Paul, J., Bilén, S. G., Nampijja, M., du Toit, L. J., & Bull, C. T. (2025) Non-thermal Atmospheric Plasma for the Inactivation of Pseudomonas syringae pv. aptata on Beet (Beta vulgaris) Infected Seeds and Its Impact on the Seed Bacterial Microbiome. (In preparation). Target journal: Phytobiome

PUBLISHED ABSTRACTS/ PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATION (Oral)

1. Poudel, P., and Di Gioia F. (2024). Evaluating the Effects of Light Intensity and Zn-fertigation on Zinc Bioaccessibility, Minerals, Yield, and Phytochemical. Annual Conference of American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS).  Sep 23-27, 2024, Hilton Hawaiian Village, Honolulu, Hawaii 31-Aug 4, 2024.

2. Poudel, P., and Di Gioia F. (2024). Resource Efficiency, Yield, and Quality of Amaranth Grown as a Summer Leaf-crop in Alternative Soilless Systems. Annual Conference of American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS). Sep 23-27, 2024, Hilton Hawaiian Village, Honolulu, Hawaii 31-Aug 4, 2024.

3. Ravichandran., R., Poudel, P., Connolly, E.L., and Di Gioia F. Combined Agronomic Biofortification of Iron and Zinc in Radish and Sunflower Microgreens. Annual Conference of American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS). Sep 23-27, 2024, Hilton Hawaiian Village, Honolulu, Hawaii 31-Aug 4, 2024.

4. Poudel, P., and Di Gioia F. (2023). Environmental temperature and light intensity effect on growth rate and nutritional quality of peas, radish, and sunflower microgreens. Penn State Emergency Food Resilience Symposium. University Park, Pennsylvania. Aug 16-Aug 17, 2023.

5. Poudel, P., and Di Gioia F. (2023). Zinc Biofortification via Fertigation with Alternative Zinc Sources and Application Rates in Radish and Sunflower Microgreens. Annual Conference of American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS). Orlando, Florida. Aug 31-Aug 4, 2023.

6. Poudel, P., and Di Gioia F. (2022). Zinc Biofortification Through Seed Nutri-Priming Using Alternative Zinc Sources and Concentration Levels in Pea and Sunflower Microgreens. Annual Conference of American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS). Aug 31-Aug 4, 2022. (Oral presentation)

7. Poudel, P., Whittinghill, L., Kobayashi, H., and Lucas, S. (2021). Evaluating the effect of Bacillus subtilis treatment and planting depth on saffron (Crocus sativus) production in a green roof system after two growing seasons. Annual Conference of American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS). Hybrid (in-person plus virtual). Aug 5-Aug 9, 2021.

8. Poudel, P., Whittinghill, L., and Gyawali, B. (2020). An assessment of land use and cover changes over time in Chitwan, Nepal. 106th Annual Meeting of Kentucky Academy of Science (KAS). Virtual. November 6- November 7, 2020.

9. Poudel, P., Whittinghill, L., Kobayashi, H., and Lucas, S. (2020). Growing saffron (Crocus sativus L.)  In Kentucky: opportunities and challenges. Annual Conference of American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS). Virtual. Aug 9-Aug 13, 2020.

PUBLISHED ABSTRACTS/ PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATION (Poster)

1. Poudel, P., Jeffries, K.A., Bai, J., Dorado, C., Rosskopf, E., and Di Gioia, F. (2025). Gamma Sigma Delta Research Expo, University Park, Pennsylvania. March 27, 2025.

2. Poudel, P., and Di Gioia, F. (2024). Resource Efficiency, Yield, and Quality of Amaranth Grown as a Summer Leaf-crop in Alternative Soilless Systems. Graduate School Exhibition, University Park, Pennsylvania. March 22, 2024.

3. Whittinghill, L., Jackson, C., and Poudel, P. (2024). Cut-and-Come-Again Lettuce Production: Lessons Learned from Research in Urban Production Systems. Urban Food Systems Symposium. June 11-13, 2024. Hyatt Regency Columbus, Columbus, OH

4.     Poudel, P., and Di Gioia, F. (2024). Zinc Biofortification of Pea Microgreens using Alternative Zinc Sources and Concentration Levels through Fertigation. Annual Conference of the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS). Orlando, Florida. Aug 31-Aug 4, 2023.

5. Poudel, P., and Di Gioia, F. (2024). Zinc Biofortification Through Seed Nutri-Priming Using Alternative Zinc Sources and Concentration Levels in Pea Microgreens. Graduate School Exhibition, University Park, Pennsylvania. March 24, 2023.

6. Poudel, P., Whittinghill, L., Kobayashi, H., and Lucas, S. (2020). Evaluating the effect of planting depth and Bacillus subtilis treatment on saffron (Crocus sativus L.) production in the green roof production system. NAPA 2nd Biennial International Scientific Conference. Virtual. Sep 25- Sep 28, 2020. (3rd place in poster competition)

7. Poudel, P., Kobayashi, H., Lucas, S., and Whittinghill, L. (2020). Evaluation of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) production in four different growing systems. 2020 Annual Meeting of Southern Region American Society for Horticultural Science (SRASHS), Louisville, Kentucky. January 31- February 2, 2020.

EXTENSION PRESENTATION/ACTIVITES

1.     Pradip Poudel, and Francesco Di Gioia (2025). Biofortification of Microgreens Using Different Agronomic Approaches. Microgreens Pre-Conference Workshop. Mid-Atlantic Fruit & Vegetable Convention. January 27, Hershey, PA. (Invited speaker)

2.     Pradip Poudel, Aline Novaski, and Francesco Di Gioia (2024). Demonstration of the hydroponic system and microgreen production in a controlled environment setting. Penn State - Ag Progress Days. Aug 12-15, 2024, Pennsylvania Furnace, PA  

3.     Poudel, P., and Di Gioia, F. (2024). Resource Efficiency, Yield, and Quality of Amaranth Grown as a Summer Leaf-crop in Alternative Soilless Systems. Mid-Atlantic Fruit & Vegetable Convention. Jan 30-Feb 1, Hershey, PA. (Invited speaker)

4.     Di Gioia, F., and Poudel, P. (2023). Microgreens: Fun Fad or Functional Vegetables? With an associated demonstration. May 1, 2023, State College PA – Penn State Master Gardeners – Centre County, PA

5.     Di Gioia, F., Seffrin, A.N., and Poudel., P. (2023). Microgreens: The Ultimate Gardening Experience, November 17, 2023, State College, PA – Penn State Community Garden

6.     Poudel, P., and Di Gioia, F. (2022). Zinc Biofortification of Microgreen Species Using Nutrient Priming Technique. “Research Unplugged- On the Road”. Organized by Pasto Agricultural Museum in partnership with the Schlow Centre Region Library and University Community and Government Relations, The Pennsylvania State University. Pasto Agricultural Museum at the Russel E Larson Agricultural Research Center. Oct-20, 2022.

7.     Di Gioia, F., and Poudel, P. (2022). What Do You Mean by Quality? Pennsylvania Farm to Child Nutrition Summit. Demonstration on measuring tomato quality parameters by handheld meters, such as Brix and acidity. Pasto Agricultural Museum at the Russel E Larson Agricultural Research Center. June 23, 2022.

GRANTS

·  CAS Graduate Student Competitive Grants Program, December 15, 2023- June 30, 2024 ($3000). Assessing Zinc Bioaccessibility in Biofortified Microgreens Grown Under Different LED Irradiance Levels. (PI)

·  Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant program, Sep 2022-June 2025 ($66,792.00).  Di Gioia, F.  (co-PI), Poudel, P.  (Ph.D. student), and Kwasniewski, M. (Co-PI), Titled: Employing Agronomic Biofortification Techniques for the Production of High-Value Functional Vegetable Crops.  Award Agreement number: C940001096.

AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIP/FELLOWSHIP

·   Penn State Alumni Association Dissertation Award (2024/2025)

·   Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences Outstanding Dissertation Award (2024/2025)

·       Student travel award by the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) to attend the annual conference (2022, 2023, and 2024)

·       Frederick H. Brown Endowed Scholarship by the College of Agricultural Sciences, Pennsylvania State University (2022, 2023, and 2024)

·   Paul Hand Award for Graduate Student Research Achievement provided by the College of Agricultural Sciences, Penn State University (2023)

·   Sarah Bradley Tyson Memorial Fellowship awarded by Women's National Farm & Garden Association (2023)

PROFESSIONALS Affiliations

·       American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS)

·       International Society for Horticultural Sciences (ISHS)

·       Association of Nepalese Agricultural Professionals of Americas (NAPA)

·       Department of Plant Science Graduate Student Association

UNIVERSITY AND PROFESSIONAL  SERVICE

·       Judge for poster and oral presentations, Life Science Symposium 2024, University Park, PA

·       Judge for poster, Undergraduate Student exhibition 2023, 2024, Penn State University, University Park, PA

·       Review editor in Frontiers in Horticulture

·       Peer-reviewed manuscripts in several peer-reviewed journals: HortTechnology, HortScience, Environmental Science and Pollution Research, Frontiers in Horticulture, Horticulture, Sustainability, CABI Agriculture and Bioscience, Journal of Sustainability Research, Scientia Agricola, Vegetos