Dr. Dependra Bhatta leads NEDHSA’s research and data-related programmatic activities, including the development of data collection systems, reporting, ad hoc data analysis, results interpretation, and report writing. His responsibilities include conducting socio-economic analysis, preparing manuscripts for peer-reviewed journals, and providing results to state and federal agencies. He leads the design and analyses of the data to support plans for new initiatives, evaluation of ongoing and new program outcomes, and improvement of service quality.
Dr. Bhatta has a broad background in data analytics and research. He worked closely with statisticians and data scientists in his previous role as a data consultant. He has published many articles in peer-reviewed professional journals. One of his articles was covered by The New York Times and BBC Earth. He has presented his research work at major national and regional conferences in the United States.
Dr. Bhatta has experience working with the multidisciplinary team in academic and non-academic settings. As an elected president of the International Student Association at Louisiana State University (LSU), representing 2,000 students from 95 different nations, Dr. Bhatta got an opportunity not only to make a sustainable change to better off the student community in his school but also to build an impeccable network with numerous organizations in the United States. He was honored with numerous awards for his academic and leadership contributions, including LSU Outstanding Graduate Student Leader Award 2018 and Outstanding Graduate Student Award 2019.
Dr. Bhatta received his Ph. D. in Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness focused in resource modeling from Louisiana State University (LSU), Baton Rouge. He also holds three MS degrees: MS in Entomology, MS in Agricultural Economics, and MS in Applied Statistics from LSU.