Dhiraj is a PhD student in Security Studies at the School of Politics, Security, and International Affairs at the University of Central Florida. His research focuses on Common Pool Resource governance and natural resource management in Nepal, with particular attention to participation, decision-making, and resource use.

Dhiraj holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Forestry Science from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. His academic and professional experience spans research and policy settings in Nepal, including work as a Research Assistant on internationally funded environmental projects and as a research intern at the Policy Research Institute, a Nepalese government think tank. He was also a Visiting Scholar at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as part of an NSF-funded project on socio-environmental systems in community forestry. In addition, he has contributed to WWF-funded environmental projects in Nepal, including forest health assessments, watershed analysis, and spatial mapping to support environmental conservation.