Research Fellows
About Uttam Babu Shrestha

Uttam Babu Shrestha
Director Climate Change And Landuse Change
Dr. Uttam Babu Shrestha is the founding director of the Global Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies. He has completed a PhD in Environmental Science from the University of Massachusetts Boston, USA and has two masters’ degrees, one in Geographic Information Technology from Northeastern University, USA and the other in Botany from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. Dr. Shrestha worked at Harvard University, University of Massachusetts Boston, University of Maine, USA, Technical University of Munich, Germany and University of Southern Queensland, Australia and Tribhuvan University, Nepal.
He was a recipient of Outstanding Graduate Student Award for his PhD at the University of Massachusetts Boston in 2014 and the Graduate Academic Excellence Award for his Master’s degree at the Northeastern University in 2008. He has received several research grants including USAID, Norwegian Environmental Agency, National Geographic Society’s Conservation Trust Grant, USA, Rufford Foundation Grant, UK, and research grants from the Queensland Government and New South Wales Government, Australia. He has published more than 70 peer-reviewed papers, one book, three book chapters and hundreds of articles in popular press. His research was also featured in the Journal Nature and covered by several international and national media outlets including New York Times, National Geography, and bag, the Atlantic. His research interests are climate change and its impact on ecosystems and species, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services, land use change, and human use of natural resources.
He is a former member of the Global Young Academy—a global organization of young scientists around the world where he co-leads a working group—Science Diplomacy in South Asia. He is a fellow for the global assessments of Biodiversity at the Intergovernmental Panel for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) from 2016-2019 and lead author for the assessments of sustainable use of wild species at IPBES from 2018-2021. He is an avid traveller and an enthusiast photographer. He is a columnist at Kantipur Daily--the most widely circulating newspaper in Nepal.
Twitter: @uttambabu