I am Pradip Sapkota, a PhD candidate in the sorghum breeding lab, from Texas A&M University. My research focuses on strengthening predictive breeding strategies for grain composition traits and agronomic performance in grain sorghum hybrids. I am interested in testing a range of statistical approaches (non-linear and linear) in training models to predict economically important traits. In addition, I am interested in integrating a range of omics data (phenomics and enviromics) into genomic selection models to optimize model performance. I find my passion in analyzing big data to discover patterns and implement those in real-world scenarios. All of my codes for performing analysis of multi-environment trials will be made available with publication. I am expecting to finish my PhD by mid-2025 and will be exploring opportunities in an industry with a focus on plant breeding, genomics, predictive breeding, and/or analytics. You can contact me at prdp@tamu.edu as well as at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sapkotapradip/ on Linkedin.

• Plant Breeding and Genetics | PhD student | Texas A&M University,US (Graduating in Mid - 2025)
• Plant and Soil Science | MS | Texas Tech University (2018 - 2020)
• Agriculture (Plant Breeding) | BS | Tribhuvan University (2011 - 2015)

• Graduate Research Assistant, Sorghum Breeding Lab, Texas A&M University (May 2022- Present)
• Graduate Teaching Assistant, SCSC 105 World Food and Fiber Crops, Texas A&M University (Jan 2024- May 2024)
• Researcher, Institute of Genomics for Crop Abiotic Stress Tolerance, Texas Tech University (Jan 2021- Apr 2022)
• Graduate Research Assistant, Peanut and Guar Breeding Lab, Texas Tech University/Texas A&M AgriLife-Lubbock (Aug 2018- Dec 2020)
• District Seed Coordinator, Improved Seed for Farmers Program, Ministry of Agricultural Development, Government of Nepal (Mar 2018- Jul 2018)
• Technical Officer, Agriculture and Food Security Project Component-1, Nepal Agricultural Research Council (Apr 2016- Mar 2018)

• Predicting sorghum hybrid performance using genomic and phenomic data
• Assessing heritability, combining abilities, and genomic selection for grain characterstics in elite sorghum hybrids
• Optimizing genomic selection models to screen introgression germplasm of sorghum
• Ideotype based breeding for leaf angle, stomatal dynamics, and drought tolerance (germplasm development and predictive breeding)

• Presented at Sorghum Improvement Conference of North America 2024 (SICNA 2024) on "Multi-trait Genomic Prediction Models to Support Index Selection in Sorghum" at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• Gave a talk on “Predicting Sorghum Hybrid Performance using Genomic and Phenomic Data” at 2024 Plant Breeding Symposium, Texas A&M University, College Station 2/15/2024
• Poster presentation and 5-minutes rapid talk on “Predicting Sorghum Hybrid Performance using Genomic and Phenomic Data” at 2023 ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meeting, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
• Poster Presentation entitled “Genomic Selection for Grain Composition in Sorghum” at 2023 Plant Breeding Symposium, Texas A&M University, College Station
• Oral presentation on “Evaluation of Breeding Populations of Cluster Bean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba L.) for Profitable Production in the Southwestern United States” at 2020 ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meeting, USA (remote)
• Oral presentation on “Evaluation of Breeding Populations of Cluster Bean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba L.) for Cultivation in Southwestern United States” at 2019 ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meeting, San Antonio, Texas, USA
• Presented on Raising Crop Productivity through Integrated Management and Varietal Promotion of Cereals for Enhancing Food Security in Dailekh District of Nepal. at 12th National Outreach Research Workshop, National Maize Research Program (NMRP), Rampur, Nepal at 18-19 June, 2017
• Participated on a week long training on Multiplication of pre-released and/or promising crop varieties for quicker adoption and dissemination organized by Agriculture and Food Security Project Component-1 at Darbar Hotel, Banke, Nepal on 9 - 16 November, 2016
• Participated on Training cum workshop on Innovative Rice Production Techniques at Regional Agricutlural Research Station, Banke, Nepal on 4 - 5 July 2016
• Participated on two day workshop on Research-Extension Interface on 25 - 26 May 2016 at Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS), Banke, Nepal

• Sapkota, P., Fonseca, J., Crossa, J., Ramasamy, P., & Rooney W.L. 2024. Near Infrared Spectroscopy based Phenomic Data can Improve Genomic Prediction of Sorghum Agronomic and Kernel-related Traits Across Environments (Under revision)
• Sapkota, P., Fonseca, J., Ramasamy, P., & Rooney W.L. 2024. Assessing Heritability, Combining Abilities and Genomic Selection for Grain Characteristics in Sorghum using Multi-environment Breeding Trials (Under preparation)
• Pariyar, K., Sapkota, P., Panta, S., Sharma, S.R., & Karki, T.B. 2019. Effects of Varieties and Planting Geometries on Growth and Yield of Rain-fed Rice in Dailkeh, Nepal. Journal of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Vol. 2 (2): 145-146.
• Pariyar, K., Chaudhary, A., Sapkota, P., Sharma, S.R., Rana, C.B., & Shrestha, J. 2019. Effects of Conservation Agriculture on Productivity and Economics of Maize based Cropping Systems in Mid-western Region of Nepal. SAARC Journal of Agriculture. Vol. 17(1): 49-63.
• Pariyar, K., Sapkota, P., Panta, S., Buda, P. & Karki, T.B. 2018. Performance and Variation in Phenotypic Characters of Maize Genotypes in Mid-western Region of Nepal. International Journal of Agriculture, Environment and Food Sciences, Vol. 2 (3): 109-113.
• Kandel, M., Bastola, A., Sapkota, P., Chaudhary, O., Dhakal, P., Chalise, P. & Shrestha J. 2018. Analysis of Genetic Diversity among the Different Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Genotypes. Turkish Journal of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, Vol. 5 (2): 180-185.
• Kandel, M., Bastola, A., Sapkota, P., Chaudhary, O., Dhakal, P., Chalise, P. & Shrestha J. 2017. Association and Path Coefficient Analysis of Grain Yield and its Attributing Traits in Different Genotypes of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). International Journal of Applied Sciences and Biotechnology. Vol. 5 (4): 449-453.
• Sapkota, P., Pariyar, K., Panta, S., Chaudhary, J.N., Budha, P. & Subedi, K. 2017. Raising Crop Productivity through Integrated Management and Varietal Promotion of Cereals for Enhancing Food Security in Dailekh District of Nepal. Proceedings of the 12th National Outreach Research Workshop, 76-81.

• Proficient in Rstudio, Python and Git
• Linux data manipulation and handling (Bash scripting)
• JMP, SAS, Sigmaplot, Minitab

• Second place at 2024 Plant Breeding Symposium at Texas A&M University on the topic “Predicting Sorghum Hybrid Performance using Genomic and Phenomic Data”
• Awardee, Dudley Smith Family Graduate Travel Scholarship Award 2023, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M University
• Mentee, Bayer Crop Science University Mentoring Program, cohort of 2023-2024
• Harold & Mary Dregne Graduate Program Endowment, Department of Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, 2020/ 2021
• Harmon Staus Memorial Endowed Scholarship, Department of Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, 2019
• David Koeppe Memorial Endowed Scholarship Award for the 2018-2019 Academic Year, Department of Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, 2018-2019
• Certificate of Appreciation for Outstanding Dedication and Commitment, Technology Development and Adaptation, Agriculture and Food Security Project, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Singhadarbar Plaza Kathmandu, Nepal, 2018
• Certificate of Achievement for Completing the Handprint Challenge-2014 as a part of waste management and their economic utilization from IAAS, Paklihawa, 2014
• Merit List Scholarship (B.Sc.Ag.), Tribhuvan University, IAAS Paklihawa Campus, 2011-2015

• Helper for R and Python (two-day workshop), Open Science Open Software Workshop 2024, Texas A&M University, 08/24/2024 - 08/25/2024
• Scientific Program Manager, Member- TAMU Plant Breeding Symposium Organizing Committee 2024/2025
• Volunteer (responsible for picking up/dropping off external speakers), TAMU Plant Breeding Symposium 2023/2024
• Member of South Asian Youth Environmental Network (SAYEN) Sep 2014 - Dec 2014
• Board Member, Youth Endeavor for Sustainable Agriculture (YES-Agriculture) June 2014 - June 2015

• National Association of Plant Breeders: Dec 2019 - present
• American Society of Agronomy: June 2019 - present
• Crop Science Society of America: June 2019 - present
• Soil Science Society of America: June 2019 - present
• Association of Nepalese Agricultural Professionals of Americas (NAPA): Sep 2018 - present
• South Asian Youth Environmental Network (SAYEN): Sep 2014 - Dec 2014
• Youth Endeavor for Sustainable Agriculture (YES-Agriculture): June 2014 - June 2015