Members

Afghanistan

Mohammad Reza Ebrahim

Mohammad Reza Ebrahim, an Afghan national, is currently undergoing a Master on Human and Natural Resource Studies Centre at Kathmandu University School of Arts in Nepal under the Human Capacity Building of Afghan Universities project. He is currently working on his thesis entitled -”Sustainability of Village Tourism: Case Study of Dhampus Village in Nepal”. He joined Bamyan University, Afghanistan as an instructor of Sociology and taught for two and half years after receiving his BA from Kabul University. He has attended various workshops and conferences at the local and national levels related to Sustainable Development, Human rights, Good Governance and environment. Reza is also part of various social and oral history research groups and has completed three such researches. Mr Reza also worked as a Regional Coordinator of Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan for six months during Pre- Presidency election on 2008.

Sediqullah Reshteen

Mr Sediqullah Reshteen, an Afghan national, is currently undergoing a Master on Interdisciplinary Water Resources Management (IWRM) at Nepal Engineering College affiliated to Pokhara University under the Human Capacity Building of Afghan Universities project. He is currently working on his thesis entitled “Impact of Climate Change on Water Availability in the Kabul Basin, Analysis of the Physical Dimension”. He joined Kabul University, Afghanistan as a lecturer in Hydro meteorology Department, Faculty of Geo sciences’ and has taught different subjects for several years. He has attended various workshops, training and conferences at local, national and international levels related to climate change issues and Integrated Water Resources Management. Mr Reshteen also served as Director of Hydrology and Water Resource Management in the Ministry of Energy and Water, Afghanistan and he has worked in different NGOs and private sectors. Mr Reshteen has a Bachelor in Hydro meteorology from Kabul University, Afghanistan.

Bangladesh

Faruqul Islam

Mr Faruqul Islam is a fresh graduate in Law, majoring in International Environmental Law from Bangladesh. He is also involved with United Nations Youth student Association of Bangladesh (UNYSAB) and is currently working for youth development throughout the country 'Leadership through Volunteerism' and has organised a Youth Summit on Climate change in Dhaka last year. He has recently completed a specialized course on International Law through the Indian Academy of International Relation and Diplomacy, New Delhi where he was awarded with 'Best Participant' award. He has also been awarded with “Best Speaker” award by British Council Chittagong on the occasion of Commonwealth Day. Mr Islam runs an independent organisation "Spondon” that works for youth empowerment and creating awareness on sustainable development of environment.

Farida Khanam

Ms Khanam has been involved with different social activities since college. But her passion shifted towards environment and development particularly, when she started her undergraduate studies in geography and environment. She has undergraduate and masters’ degree in geography and environmental studies from Jagannath University (Dhaka, Bangladesh). Currently, she is working with Mr Saleh Ahmed (‘Sapienza’ University of Rome, Italy) in Bangladesh. Farida has worked on various projects with government and non-government organizations addressing the human-environment interactions issues. Apart from these, she volunteered with Greenpeace-Karlsruhe, Germany in 2006 and is actively involved in Save the Environment Movement in Bangladesh. She has participated in different high level international trainings and conferences: Youth Encounter on Sustainability “YES” 2009 in Braunwald, Switzerland; 4th Annual Conference of the GARNET NETWORK 2009 on ‘Food Security and Sustainable Development at the IFAD Headquarters in Rome, Italy and Swiss International Summer School Gender Studies 2010 ‘Gender and Politics – Gendered Politics’ in Bern, Switzerland. She is an avid learner of language and always enthusiastic of knowing different places, peoples and cultures. Most of her present research works are focused on different human development challenges in the mountainous areas of Chittagong Hill Tracts region, Bangladesh.

Tanzima Shahreen

Ms Tanzima Shahreen, a resident from Bangladesh is working in Unnayan Onneshan as Junior Research Assistant, on “Climate Change, Biodiversity and DRR Unit”. She is also working as Communication and Out Reach Expert in Boishakhi Television. She is currently working on a documentary on “Community Based Disaster Risk Reduction” for IFRC. She is doing her MS in Disaster Management in Dhaka University. Before joining Unnayan Onneshan, she has worked in several research projects with Flood, Hazard and Research Centre (FHRC). She has completed short training courses on Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation, Flood Plain Management and Advance Professional course on ArcGIS 9.2.

Bhutan

Jigme Choki

Ms Jigme Choki, a Bhutanese National, has been working with the Royal Government of Bhutan for the past four and half years in the capacity of District Environment Officer in one of the twenty districts of the country. She serves as Secretary to the District Environment Committee (DEC) which was established in 2005 and looks after tasks like environmental protection, environmental impact assessment, environmental awareness, other environmental and disaster issues in the district. She is also responsible for reviewing and assessing project proposals for Environmental Clearances; conducting site visits for field verification of project proposals; conducting compliance monitoring in development projects under the Environment Assessment Act 2000 and associated guidelines. She is also the Disaster focal point of the district. She has attended environment management and disaster related training courses in Thailand, Philippines, Bangladesh and India. She has a certificate degree in Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) from the Saxion University of Applied Sciences, Deventer, The Netherlands. She also has a Post Graduate Diploma in Public Administration (PGDPA) from the Royal Institute of Management, Semtokha, Bhutan. She completed her graduation in December 2004 from Sherubtse College, Bhutan with Bachelor of Science in Chemistry-Biology. Her areas of interests in the field of environmental management are issues of global sustainable development, environmental economics, and conservation of biodiversity, environmental assessment, environmental management systems, and sustainable tourism. Her extracurricular activity interest includes plantations, cleaning campaigns, community services and voluntary activities with keen interest in reading, listening to music, trekking/hiking, travelling and photography.

Dorji Dema

Ms Dorji Dema is a journalist in Bhutan. She started her career in 2006. She also worked as a bureau correspondent for three years in one of the largest district in eastern Bhutan. During that time she has travelled to remote and far flung areas of the country to cover stories from the grassroots and the rural heartland of Bhutan. From natural disasters to damage in livelihood caused by climate change, she covered a wide array of subjects. Listening to music, flower gardening and travelling is her passion. She is also an avid reader. She has a Bachelor’s degree in economics.

Netra Mani Gurung

Mr Netra Mani Gurung, a Bhutanese national, completed his Bachelor’s Degree in Hospitality Management from IIAS School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, India with Food Production as his specialization. During his studies he did 22 weeks internship at one of the finest hotel in Rajasthan, Taj Umaid Bhawan Palace. It was a very enriching experience and after completion he has been working at one of the oldest established Hotel, “Hotel Druk” in the kingdom of Bhutan. He is passionate about his job and loves to try his hands on cooking new things every day. Besides his work he loves to play basketball, listening to music and to make new friends. He is also very interested in Youth related activities and wants to be involved and help in his own small way.

Cambodia

Tith Chandara

Mr Tith Chandara works as an assistant lecturer at the Department of Media and Communication in Cambodia where he was pursuing his Bachelor’s degree under a scholarship programme. He works in collaboration with media and is responsible for public relation and outreach. This young Cambodian media practitioner has been working as a freelance reporter for a local English newspaper, the Phnom Penh Post. In 2010, he got a grant to intern in the press office of Care Germany. Since then, he has produced an environmental film about the impacts of plastic bags which was selected for the Southeast Asian Student Documentary Award in Thailand. He has been producing several films in different topics, but more on environment and education. He is now organizing a webzine for his department in print articles and broadcast pieces from students within the department the hunt for improving students’ capacity and media development in the society as a whole.

China

Rongkun Liu

Mr Rongkun Liu currently works as Program Manager at The Pendeba Society of the Qomolangma (Mt. Everest) National Nature Preserve in south Tibet where he is in charge of projects that promote community development and environmental conservation in the region. Previously, Rongkun worked as Project Analyst with the Yunnan Environmental Protection Department where he assisted in various environmental projects in Yunnan Province, China funded by bilateral government agreements and multinational development banks. Rongkun holds a degree in international relations from Peking University in China and graduated from American University in Washington, D.C. with a Master’s Degree in Global Environmental Policy concentrating on environmental economic policies and international environmental cooperation.

Tian Wang

Ms Tian Wang recently graduated from Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies with a degree in Master of Environmental Management, where she was actively engaged in climate related courses and research. At Yale, she has conducted an institutional analysis for adaptation governance in Ningxia Province, Northwestern China to examine good governance principles for adaptation and assess the effectiveness of current practices in Ningxia.  She also has working experience with the World Resources Institute (WRI) on vulnerability and adaptation project and the Open Space Institute researching climate change impacts on drinking water quality in the US. Tian is originally from Beijing, China and has an environmental sciences background from Peking University with numerous research experiences, including urban air quality monitoring for the 2008 Olympic Games, an environmental impact assessment of airport planning in Zhengzhou and independent research on watershed management for Dianchi Lake. Tian is currently seeking opportunities in non-profit organization based in Beijing where she can facilitate international collaboration on climate change program.

Finland/NEPAL

Bibhuti Bista

Mr Bibhuti Bista, a a PhD student in Finland is experienced in community related development programmes, alternative energy field and involved in research works related to social and environmental aspects. He is also a trainer and has conducted over dozens of trainings in his area of expertise. His keen interest is in the field of Environmental sociology and Sustainable development. Mr. Bista obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in environmental science (Honours) from Kathmandu University and Master’s Degree in Sociology from Sagarmatha Multiple College.

India

Vaidehi Deosthali

Ms Vaidehi Deosthali was born in India and was brought up in Thailand where she has completed her schooling. Currently, she is doing her MBA (Energy and Environment) from Symbiosis International University, Pune, India. She completed her undergraduate degree in June 2009 in BSc Biotechnology from Monash University, Malaysia. She has previously worked at Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in the Biotechnology Department and helped a PhD student in his experiment in extracting DNA from different varieties of rice and also worked at Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B), worked on a Talk to a Teacher Project of the National Mission on Education through ICT, an MHRD initiative. <www.spoken-tutorial.org>. Recently, she was an intern at the AIT-UNEP Regional Resource Centre for Asia and the Pacific, working on the Asia Pacific Adaptation Network. Being new in this field of energy and environment, she is excited and ready to learn anything and everything.

Sonia Grover

Ms Sonia Grover has done Masters of Science in Water Resources Management from TERI University and a zoology graduate from Delhi University. She has been involved in various issues related to water and climate change. Her key qualifications include water budgeting using SWAT model with emphasis on various climate scenarios to estimate present and future water availability. She also has experience of working with GIS software (ERDAS, Arcinfo) and basic knowledge of remote sensing. She is the key member of TERI’s regional knowledge hub for water and climate change adaptation in South Asia and National Key Resource Center for Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation. The basic responsibilities are to update and maintain the database of the institutes working on water and climate change sector in South Asia, to develop and maintain the knowledge hub website and to develop strategies for efficient networking of knowledge on various platforms, to develop training modules for water and climate change adaptation practices and organize various training programmes. She has been involved in projects like Conducting a GIS based diagnostic study for assessing availability and quality of water resources to address watershed wide concerns using a watershed approach,  Impacts of climate change and watershed development on whole-of-basin agricultural water security in the Krishna Basin, India and Murray-Darling Basin, Australia, Economics of Sanitation Initiative for India, drafting Sustainable Environmental Mission for the Rajasthan state, future impacts of agricultural contaminants on ecosystem services, developing Environment and Social Management Framework for Ganga Basin and carrying out EIA and SIA for sub-projects. She has actively participated in many national and international deliberations on related subjects.

Priyanka Kohli

Ms Priyanka Kohli, an Indian National is enrolled in the Ph.D. Programme of TERI University in Department of Natural Resources Management since July 2010 under HSBC Climate Scholarship programme. She has completed her coursework with SGPA of 8.6. Her research work is on the REDD plus approach to mitigate climate change. She has also worked as a Junior Research Fellow in 2010, at the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) Dehradun on India's National Communication to Climate Change (NATCOM II) Project. The activities included in this project were assessing forests as carbon sinks and promoting capacity building programmes to combat climate change among the most vulnerable communities of Himalayas. Priyanka received Masters Degree in 2009 in Environmental Science from G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar. In addition she was engaged in a research assistantship at the University to carry out monitoring and analysis of ecosystem. In 2008, she was part of a TV Show on Doordarshan - "Role of women in protecting the environment" on 12th June 2008. She completed her graduation in 2007 in Applied Sciences from H. N. B. Garhwal University, Uttarakhand.

Parth Sarathi Mahapatra

Mr Parth Sarathi Mahapatra holds a B.Sc. Honours in Zoology from Ravenshaw University, Odisha and has completed his M.Sc. in Environmental Management from Forest Research Institute (Deemed) University, Uttarakhand, India. Presently he works as a research scholar at Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (CSIR) Bhubaneshwar, Odisha. Here, he is responsible for data collection and analysis pertaining to trace gases in atmosphere and mapping aerosol radiative forcing at Odisha. His recent work focus and research interest comprises socio-economic understanding of climate risk and resilience, ecotourism and society along with study of trace gases and particulate matter in troposphere. He has been promoting environmental awareness through means of campaigns and speeches and community service in form of cancer patient counselling.

Indonesia

Zulfadhli Nasution

Mr Zulfadhli Nasution graduated with a Bachelor in Public Health from University of Indonesia. Currently, his main activity is working for UNAIDS Country Office Indonesia as a programme assistant. His interests include advocating for the environment, particularly through prose and design. His designs have attracted accolades in various fora and competitions He  has worked with various NGO working in environment and climate change issues, also was invited as a speaker at the “Asia–Pacific Forum: Youth Action on Climate Change” in Bangkok in January this year. His artwork in that forum was also published in Asia–Pacific Mountain Courier-“Special issue on youth action for climate change through art” this year. Realizing still a little contribution that he could give now, hopefully he can learn more and practice better in environmental concerns.

Kazakhstan

Serik Dossayev

Mr Serik Dossayev, a Kazakh national, joined Executive Consulting in 2008 as a Consultant for Strategic and Service Management. In 2010 Serik became a Deputy Director and he is responsible now for Company’s new business directions’ development including establishment of partnerships with local universities for doing collaborative research in Strategic Management, Service Management, Organizational Change and Sustainable Development as well as creation of national internet platform for implementing online market researches. Serik completed his Master’s degree in Economics and Social Studies as a scholar of DAAD at Trier University, Germany. Serik has received his first diploma in agro-industrial economy of T. Ryskulow Kazakh Economic University, Kazakhstan. During his Bachelor’s degree, Serik spent a year as an exchange student in University of Applied Science Osnabrueck in Germany, where he studied intensive Marketing courses. Serik is a member of YES Alumni Association which aims to connect new generation of leaders for sustainable world.

Myanmar

May Zin Thaw

Ms May Zin Thaw is a post graduate student at the Yangon Institute of Economics, Myanmar specializing in Development Studies, and Sanitation & Hygiene Specialist at World Vision Myanmar. She has been volunteering for environmental conservation awareness activities with Yangon University Hiking & Mountaineering Association and is also an independent environmental activist. She has been sharing knowledge with the new generation and across peer groups her age for environmental awareness since 2006. She is also a trainee in Training of Climate Change and Education Awareness in (ECODEV) which is associated with National Action Plan for Adaptation (NAPA) and is interested in learning new things, concepts every day. She has been advocating reducing the carbon footprint in urban folks and tries to share her knowledge on environmental conservation during her travel in Myanmar.

Nepal

Sanam Aksha

Mr Sanam Aksha is a Nepalese citizen who graduated in Environmental Science from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. He holds another Masters degree in Sociology and Anthropology from the same university. He has over six years of working experience on water, water related hazards and information and knowledge management. At ICIMOD, he is now assisting in implementation of Rio+20 as well as ICIMOD’s youth initiative - Youth for Sustainable Mountain Development (Y4SMD). He is also working as a part-time lecturer at College of Applied Sciences, a graduate level programme affiliated to TU.

Shreejana Bhattarai

Ms Shreejana Bhattarai, a Nepalese national, is final year student of Master’s degree of Environmental Science at Tribhuvan University. She is undertaking her dissertation on “Assessment of the Impacts of Climate Change on Water Resources and Local Coping Mechanisms Adopted by the Community: A study of Mohana River, Kailali” with grant support from New Era Institution under the Harka Gurung Fellowship. She has worked as Information Management at Nepal River Conservation Trust. She has also worked as a City Volunteer for Kathmandu Metropolitan City and Clean Energy Nepal where she was involved in forming eco-clubs and co-ordinating and mobilising students in various environmental awareness campaigns in different schools.

Sikshhya Bhattarai

Ms Sikshhya Bhattarai is a young career journalist and also a news anchor at the State Broadcasting Media of Nepal. Sikshhya started her professional career as an intern with the United Nations Development Fund for Women and then subsequently worked as a project assistant in an EU Funded project Fair Trade in Nepal. As an anchor, editor and news reporter for the past three years, her job requires news reporting on various topics. But climate change and environment change issues are of particular interest. She also believes that this Youth Forum on Climate Actions and Mountain Issues will give her ample opportunities to further augment her knowledge on the mountain agenda and climate change adaptation.

Ranjana Budhathoki

Ranjana Budhathoki is currently a M.Sc. second year student of Environmental Science in Central Department of Environmental Science, Tribhuvan University, Nepal. She has a special interest in mountain issues, livelihoods and specificities and that is why she has chosen ‘The Mountain Environment’ as a special paper. She has worked as a volunteer for various programmes organised by Wildlife Conservation Nepal (WCN). She has been involved in conducting awareness raising programmes about alternative energy, water, sanitation and hygiene as well as community forestry in Sindhupalchowk district, Nepal. She has been involved in various researches including water quality analysis, EIA, biodiversity assessment, carbon stock etc. during her academic session. She is currently preparing her dissertation on flood risk assessment and disaster management.

Dipesh Chapagain

Mr. Dipesh Chapagain has been involved in research, advocacy and awareness on climate change and other environmental issues since 2007. Currently, he is Climate Change and Energy Program Coordinator at Clean Energy Nepal (CEN). He is one of the founder members of Nepalese Youth for Climate Action (NYCA); a pioneer youth based organization in Nepal on climate change and serving as a Policy Coordinator. He attended the UNFCC 15th Conference of the Party (COP 15) in Copenhagen, 2009 as a part of the Nepali youth delegation. Dipesh was awarded with “applied research grant on climate change adaptation in Nepal” by NAPA Project – Ministry of Environment, “NDRI Research Paper Award” by Nepal Development Research Institute and “Youth Corner on Climate Change Adaptation” top entry by ICIMOD. He is currently undertaking his Masters degree in Environmental Science from Central Department of Environmental Science, Tribhuvan University, Nepal.

Piyush Dahal

26 years old youth from Nepal, Piyush is currently working as communication officer at The Small Earth, a non-governmental organization in Kathmandu. Now he is a final year student of Environmental Science in Central Department of Environmental Science, Tribhuvan University with major in Mountain Environment. He is doing his master thesis on Community Vulnerability due to Climate Change and Existing Adaptation Practice in mid hills of Nepal. He has some experience in research and campaign on climate change vulnerability on mountain areas of Nepal.

Kabita Gautam

Kabita Gautam, an Environmental Science graduate from Tribhuvan University, is a Nepalese citizen and has been volunteering several Environmental conservation awareness programmes. She has been working as a secretary at Society of Environment, Agriculture and Technology (SEAT) since 2010. She likes sharing knowledge among new generation and has been teaching school kids. She is also a trainee in Training Association for Reinforcement of Aid-Facility-Workers (TᾹRᾹ-Initiatives, Holland-Nepal) and Early Childhood Education Centre Pvt. Ltd (ECEC). Environmental Conservation Activities, Earth Issues and Changes, Arctic and Antarctic, Glaciers and Himalayas are her field of interest whereas she aspires to learn new things everyday with different visions towards sustainability and tentative youth leading innovative ideas. She always tries to bring some innovation in her works focusing on environmental conservation.

Utsav Maden

Mr Utsav Maden is currently on assignment with APMN, supporting ICIMOD’s youth initiative - Youth for Sustainable Mountain Development (Y4SMD), while backstopping e-discussions and assisting in information capture and synthesis. He has been working with the IKM programme at ICIMOD on numerous assignments including development of a contacts database. Prior to ICIMOD, he was on an internship programme of UNEP Regional Resource Centre for Asia Pacific (RRC.AP through TUNZA, UNEP’s programme for youth in 2006. He is also an associate member of the South Asia Youth Environment Network. In 2007, he contributed as editor to two sub-regional documents: “Youth for Clean Air” and “Sub-regional Sustainable Development Strategy (SSDS) Youth, - We Hold Our Future" for SAYEN. Utsav holds a Bachelor’s (Honours) degree in Environmental Science from Kathmandu University. An avid social media enthusiast and intermittent blogger, he is available @utsavmaden on Twitter and Facebook.

Sujata Mahat

Ms Sujata Mahat is a Nepalese national interested in environment and community development issues. Coming from Parbat district in the western Nepal, she is currently completing her Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science course from Amrit Science Campus, Tribhuvan University. During free time she is volunteering for few national organisations based in Kathmandu. She wants to develop her career as an environmental campaigner and educator.

Sakunda Ojha

Sakunda Ojha works with Sanima Hydro and Engineering Pvt. Ltd (SHE) as an Environmentalist where he is involved in ensuring the development of hydroelectric projects in an environmentally sustainable manner. He is responsible for conducting Environment Impact Assessments (EIA), Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) and Social Impact Assessment (SIA) for hydropower projects, transmission line and access road of different projects at Sanima Hydro and Engineering Pvt. Ltd. He is efficient in using GIS software to prepare various maps and analyze geomorphic features as well as works as a part time instructor in various training institutes.

Jeeban Panthi

Jeeban Panthi, a youth motivator with The Small Earth Nepal (SEN), is an Environmental science graduate from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. He has been working for capacitating youth in research for three years in climate change, wetlands and water. Mr Panthi started his journey with conservation issues from a school level voluntary programme in High Altitude Wetlands Awareness Campaign in Kathmandu, Nepal in 2008. He has completed several projects in climate change among youth, mainly among school and university students. In recent days, Mr Panthi has actively been working for Rio+20 Issues in Nepal and the Asia-Pacific. He participated as a youth delegate at the World Leadership Conference, Singapore and youth panellist in the 5^th World Youth Congress, Turkey. He always encourages youth for research activities.

Achut Parajuli

Achut Parajuli is a M.Sc. II year student of Environmental Science at Central Department of Environmental Science, Tribhuvan University with Mountain Environment as special paper. He studied four weeks postgraduate course “Building Resilience to Climate Change” organized by United Nations University- Institute of Sustainability and Peace (UNU-ISP), Japan. He had worked as Secretary of Society of Environmental Science Students (SESS) a student group at Central Department of Environmental Science. He has also worked as an intern at National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) and is currently affiliated to Environment Service Provider as a consultant.

Barsha Parajuli

Barsha Parajuli holds dual post graduate degrees in Environmental Science and Socio-Anthropology from Tribhuvan University. She is the founder member (Vice President) of Safe Environment Nepal; a woman led non-profit environmental youth organization, and is currently involved in its activities concerning raising awareness of wildlife conservation in Chitwan National Park mobilizing national and international volunteers. Prior to this, she worked at Environmental Graduates in Himalaya (a sister organization of Resources Himalaya Foundation) as coordinator and editor of its flagship e-newsletter ‘Headlines Himalaya’. She also underwent an internship at Winrock International/RPI Nepal where she monitored the functioning of MUS (multiple use water systems) and prepared a report on the impact of MUS installation at different sites.

Sasmita Poudel

Ms Sasmita Poudel, a Nepali citizen is a graduate in Public Health. She is doing post graduate in Psychological Counselling from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. She has two years of working experience on environmental health with water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) issues and disasters/epidemics as social concern on “paschim paaila” - an informal youth network since July 17, 2009. She works as the Social Development Coordinator in paschim paaila and is responsible for planning and implementing different youth led campaigns. She is Vice-President of Rural community Health Organization Nepal (RCHON) established on her initiation which aims at uplifting the health conditions of people in rural areas of Nepal and co-ordinates programmes on different parts of the country engaging the energetic and interested youth.

Nistha Rayamajhi

Ms Nistha Rayamajhi is a recent graduate in English literature and Journalism. She has been working as a correspondent for Republica, English daily based in Kathmandu, Nepal for the past year. She covers different events relevant to youth and society and writes feature stories on emerging issues of the same. Nistha is knowledgeable about print journalism and is also fluent in feature writing, editing and production. She recently travelled to Solukhumbu to cover a story on a renovation project of a school. She also participated on a workshop on creating mutual understanding between media and politics in Kathmandu which was organized by Demo Finland, a co-operative organisation for Finnish parliamentary parties.

Aastha Shrestha

Ms Aastha Shrestha, a Nepalese citizen, is currently an undergraduate student in Environmental Science at College of Applied Sciences, affiliated to Tribhuvan University, Nepal. She has been leading various extracurricular awareness activities at her college and has been publishing a green magazine “Flourish”, a college level magazine focusing on youth and environment issues, and also serves as editor of magazine focusing on environment awareness and sustainable consumption. She is determined to pursue her career in environmental sector in the future. She also seeks to involve and co-relate her ideas indifferent environmental issues over a global aspect.

Suchita Shrestha

Suchita Shrestha recently completed her Master’s degree in Environmental Science from Tribhuvan University. She has been involved in counselling about the sustainable environment to school children thorough Environmental Camps for Conservation Awareness (ECCA) from 2006 to 2009.  She was involved in Small Mammals Conservation and Research Foundation (SMCRF) in 2009 as conservation awareness and outreach officer which works on research and conservation of small mammals of Nepal. She currently works with The Small Earth Nepal (SEN) that promotes sustainable lifestyle and youth capacity development. She strongly believes in research based knowledge; her research interest being climate change adaptation, alternative energy and indigenous knowledge. She sees herself as a green entrepreneur involving in organic farming and waste recycling small scale industry in the future.

Basudev Upadhyay

Mr Basudev Upadhyay is a Nepalese citizen and holds Masters Degree in Environmental Science with specialisation in Mountain Environment along with another Masters in Social Science with specialisation in Sociology. His expertise is in Sustainable Mountain Development concerning Climate Change Policy, Adaptation and Mitigation Issues. He is also involved in research and training. At ICIMOD, he is now assisting in implementation of Rio+20 as well as ICIMOD’s youth initiative - Youth for Sustainable Mountain Development (Y4SMD). He has recently completed a blended learning programme on “Science and Policy of Climate Change” jointly organised by The Energy and Resource Institute, Institute for Global Environment Strategies, Tokyo Development Learning Centre and The World Bank.

Pakistan

Hamera Aisha

Hamera Aisha holds a Masters Degree in Environmental Sciences and also holds a professional diploma in graphic design and occasionally volunteers her services for designing conservation related education material. She has been working with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF–Pakistan) and manages the Small Grant Programme of WWF. One of her major responsibilities is to help communities in development and effective implementation of small projects and their monitoring and evaluation. She is also involved in environmental education and gets several chances to interact with local school students and tries to make them aware about their role towards safe and healthy environments. She wants to explore the role of indigenous communities towards conservation and sustainable utilisation of natural resources and also wants to understand the community’s resilience and adaptation to climate change. She is a technology lover and also wants to learn new software and gadgets. She looks forward to this forum as a wonderful experience of sharing ideas and learning through other’s experiences.

Rabia Faridi

Ms Rabia Faridi (Pakistan) has completed her Doctor of Pharmacy degree and currently doing Masters of Philosophy in Molecular Biology. She was awarded a prize by University of the Punjab for her doctorate in Pharmacy. She is also an active environmentalist and has participated in several trainings and workshops pertaining to environment management, conservation and awareness activities. She also has experience in mountaineering expedition in Gilgit, Passu Glacier and reached the Khunjrab Top in 2007. She has given a number of lectures on sustainable exploitation of natural resources at the Centre for Integrated Mountain Research on aromatic, medicinal and herbal plants and their economic utilization. She has been involved in various community awareness related programmes viz. hepatitis awareness. Her research primarily focuses on exploring potent Medicinal plants of Northern areas like Gilgit, Upper Hunza, Muzafarabad, Mansehra etc.  Her academic research has been published in Journal of Virology.

Kamran Hussain

Mr Kamran Hussain completed his graduation in forestry from Pakistan Forest Institute (PFI) under a scholarship programme from IUCN-Pakistan in 2005. He joined the State Forestry Department in 2006 as a forest officer and served for two years and was subsequently nominated by the Forestry Department for post graduation in Mountain Conservation and Watershed Management at the University of Punjab Lahore which was completed in 2009. He has been awarded with University Gold Medal in 2011 for securing first position in Mountain Research. He has been teaching as a lecturer in Centre for Integrated Mountain Research (CIMR), University of Punjab Lahore on deputation basis for six month on graduation. His main areas of interest are capacity building and training of youth, communities and government officials on issues related to Environment specifically NRM, REDD/REDD+, Wetlands Management and Watershed Management. He has conducted three bureaucratic training courses and trained over 250 Government/NGO officials, youth and community representatives on different environmental issues. He has also represented his country at different international forums like Youth Encounter on Sustainability – Switzerland, International Youth Forum on Benefiting Youth from Earth Observation Information for Climate Action in Nepal in 2010, IPROMO Course on Natural Hazards on Disaster Risk Management in Mountains in Ormea Italy in July 2011. Recently he has been awarded Scholarship by Pakistan Wetland’s Program for MS in Environmental Management in Malaysia starting from September 2011.

Sameera Zaib

Sameera Zaib, a Pakistani national, holds Masters Degree in Environmental Sciences from Peshawar University, and is currently enrolled in MS Environmental Sciences degree at the International Islamic University, Islamabad. She also holds Post Graduate Diploma in GIS/Remote Sensing from Peshawar University and another Post Graduate Diploma in Protecting Mountain Biodiversity from University of Torino. She has over three years of working experience with different organizations, including WWF Pakistan and International Islamic University, in the field of community development, environmental education. She is now working with Project Procurement International, is responsible for environmental impact assessment and natural resource management, and contributes to sustainable development of the country.

Philippines

Edgar Geguiento

“Edge” as he fondly called by his friends and colleagues finished his Bachelor degree in Broadcasting at West Visayas State University in 2007. He completed his second course in Bachelors in Supplementary Education at the University of Perpetual Help Dalta-System in 2008. He was the former station manager and radio announcer of a school based radio station. He also worked for 3 years in Bayer Philippines, Inc. as Corporate Communication Staff. In 2009, he was elected as TUNZA Youth Advisor for Asia and the Pacific region under the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP). Edge is an active member of Bayer Young Environmental Envoy Club (BYEE), Broadcast Guild, Philippine Youth Climate Movement, South East Asia Youth Environmental Network (SEAYEN) and UNEP-TUNZA Youth Advisory Council, where he helps to implement environmental projects and programmes in partnership with local government units, school organizations and NGO’s. He also attended the TUNZA International Conference for Children and Youth held at Daejon, South Korea in 2009 and the Global Youth Gathering at UNEP Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya in 2011. Edge has pioneered various environmental projects and activities which include school based environmental radio program, tree planting activity, education drives and youth forum in his school and community. At present, he is working in a contracting company based in Doha, Qatar.

Singapore

Wilson Ang

Wilson is the founder and President of the Environmental Challenge Organisation (Singapore), also known as ECO Singapore (Operational since 2006). It has since expanded with an outreach of empowering more than 2,000 youths and educating up to 60,000 members of the public annually, all geared to doing their part to protecting the environment as responsible consumers. The organisation is growing and currently has offices in other parts of Asia through empowering the local community. Wilson was a full time air traffic controller in the Republic of Singapore Air Force from 2002 to 2006 while he pursued his passion. Despite the job intensity during his working days, he was still involved in various environmental movements, activities, and projects. This includes the formation ECO Singapore and used it as a platform to reach out to more youth as drivers to educate the general public. He left on 30th April 2006 to pursue his passionate full time. He serves internationally such as the maiden focal point for the UNFCCC Youth Constituency, consultant to the British Council Global Climate Champion Programme and also as advisory board member of the Commonwealth Foundation. His other goal as well is to create 10,000 green jobs by the age of 35.

Thailand

Watkana Thongrueng

Ms Watkana Thongrueng is a Thai Citizen who graduated in Marine Science, Faculty of Fisheries, Kasetsart University in Thailand. She used to work in Tsunami areas as a Coastal Resources Researcher for Ranong Coastal Resources Research Station for about two years. She is currently working for a multidisciplinary sustainability consulting firm in Bangkok for the past five years. Her primary responsibilities are teaching and training for education programme including curriculum and materials development.  She is interested in sustainable living lifestyle. She attended various courses around this topic such as Eco-village design education and sustainability living and farming. She is looking forwards to attending this course for learning and sharing with everyone.

Vietnam

Hoang Duc Minh

Mr Hoang Duc Minh, a Vietnamese citizen, is a student in Water Resources University, Vietnam. Since 2008, he is the founder and Program Director of RAECP (Rising Awareness on Environment and Climate Change Program). This is the first youth organization working on climate change in Vietnam. Minh is one of three International Climate Champions of British Council in Vietnam. Since 2009, he represented Vietnamese youth in many international events like: World Leadership Conference 2009 in Singapore, Asia Youth Climate Workshop in Bangkok, Youth Engagement Summit in Malaysia and especially COP 15 in Copenhagen. He is the founder and chair organizer of Vietnamese Youth and Sustainable Development Forum annually since 2009. He is now working as a trainer and facilitator of Vietnam Green Generation Network, travelling around the country training youth and youth organizations in Vietnam. He is also a familiar face on television.