Ph.D. Student Roshit Raj Paudel Wins Second Place at National GeoPoster Competition

Ph.D. student Roshit Raj Paudel earned second place in the National GeoPoster Competition at Geo-Congress 2026, held March 9-12 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Geo-Congress is the ASCE Geo-Institute’s annual conference and a premier national gathering for the geotechnical engineering community.

Roshit was recognized for his poster, “Beyond Rainfall Intensity and Duration: Toward a Predictive Model for Debris Flows in Southern Appalachia,” which highlights research aimed at improving understanding of debris flows in the region, where recent events such as Hurricane Helene have underscored the need for better predictive tools. The work examines how geospatial variables beyond rainfall intensity and duration may help distinguish debris-flow sites from non-debris-flow sites, with the goal of improving understanding of debris-flow occurrence and supporting development of more effective predictive models.

The project began in Summer 2025 through UNC Charlotte’s Office of Undergraduate Research, where undergraduate researcher Jamie Rogers helped build the foundation for the study. Roshit joined UNC Charlotte in Fall 2025 from Nepal and has since continued and expanded the work as part of his Ph.D. research. Roshit and Jamie are advised by Dr. Ryan Rasanen, Assistant Professor in Geotechnical Engineering.