Chancellor Award to Nita Khanal
Dr. Nita Khanal, who earned her PhD in Infrastructure and Environmental Systems in May 2026, was honored with the 2026 Chancellor’s Award—the university’s highest annual recognition for a graduating graduate student demonstrating outstanding academic achievement, leadership, and service to the university community.
Dr. Khanal joined Dr. Mariya Munir’s research group in 2021. Her doctoral research focused on detection methods and optimization for enhanced sensitivity to SARS-CoV-2 and antibiotic resistance genes in environmental samples. Over four and a half years, she led four research projects and presented her research at eighteen national conferences and academic forums. She was the recipient of the Joanna R. Baker Memorial Graduate Fellowship for 2023–2024 and the Graduate School Summer Fellowship in 2024. She is also the recipient of the Outstanding Research Assistant Award in the Civil and Environmental Engineering department. She won numerous best poster presentation awards and multiple conference travel scholarships. She has published four peer-reviewed research papers and has three additional manuscripts under review. She also served as a teaching assistant in the department and became an Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award finalist (university-wide) two years in a row.
Outside the lab, she co-founded the Nepalese Student Association, growing it from eight members to nearly 100, and led Nepal’s first participation in the UNC Charlotte International Festival Parade of Nations. She also co-founded the Graduate Student Organization of Civil and Environmental Engineering, where her team doubled available conference travel funding for graduate researchers, and served as a certified Meditation Leader offering weekly sessions for graduate student well-being. She reflects: “The opportunities here helped me grow not only as a researcher, but also as a leader committed to serving and strengthening the university community.”
The department congratulates Dr. Nita Khanal on this well-deserved honor and gratefully acknowledges Dr. Mariya Munir for her guidance and contributions to Dr. Khanal’s success.