Dr. Krishna Pahari is one of the founding members of NDRI, was its first Executive Director during 2004-2005, and recently, the lead on livelihoods and food security programme since 2021. He possesses more than 35 years of experience in research and academia, the United Nations and other organizations in the development sector.

During 2005-2021, he had served with the United Nations World Food Programme in Nepal, Pakistan, South Sudan and other countries in East Africa. The most was as the Head of Research, Assessment and Monitoring at the WFP’s Regional Bureau for East Africa covering 10 countries (2018-21). Dr. Pahari led many works on emergency or rapid assessments as well as studies and programmes on longer term hunger solutions. Some of these include WFP’s support on national zero hunger programme announced by the Government of Pakistan in 2012, rapid assessment after the floods of 2012 and 2014, humanitarian needs assessment of the populations displaced from conflict in Northwest Pakistan, and in the context of conflict in South Sudan and Ethiopia (Tigray), and rapid needs assessment after the Earthquake in Nepal (2015). He also led the team from WFP that led to the declaration of famine in South Sudan (2017) and Tigray/Ethiopia (2021). As a senior staff member, he also contributed to WFP’s recognition as recipient of Nobel Peace Prize in 2020.

Prior to WFP and NDRI, Dr. Pahari had worked as Associate Professor (2000-03) and postdoctoral fellow (1998-2000) at the University of Tokyo, adjunct faculty at the Asian Institute of Technology (1997) and in various capacities including Senior Technical Advisor at CARE International in Nepal (1984-92). He has taught at various degree programmes at Tribhuban University, Kathmandu University and Poorbanchal University in Nepal.

Dr. Pahari has a Ph.D. on remote sensing, and Masters in natural resources management (Gold medalist) from the Asian Institute of Technology, and Bachelor in Civil Engineering from Panjab University, Chandigarh. He was also a Ph.D. Fellow at the United Nations University in Tokyo during 1995-96. He has authored or led more than 100 publications including scientific journals, conference proceedings, contribution to books, working papers and official
publications of WFP.

In addition to his long experience in Nepal, Dr. Pahari has extensive international experience.
He has been to 55 countries in six continents for work and travel.
Dr. Pahari may be contacted at krishna.pahari@ndri.org.np

Dr. Tara Nidhi Bhattarai is one of the founding members of NDRI, and leads the Disaster Management Team. He possesses extensive experiences in the field of engineering geology, with more than 3 decades of teaching and conducting research at Tribhuvan University. He served as a professor of geology at Tribhuvan University until his retirement in June 2023. He has published around 60 articles in technical journals, proceedings, and edited volumes. He is the lead author of the book entitled "Earthquake of 2072 BS". In addition to his academic work, he has served as a member of the Nepal Government's delegation to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) conferences during COP 17 and 18. During these conferences, he managed Nepal's side-events, providing information on the impact of climate change in Nepal to global community. Furthermore, he was appointed by the Nepal Government as an expert member of the Steering Committee of the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA), established to look after the issues of reconstruction related to the Mw 7.8 Gorkha-Nepal earthquake 2015. In this role, among others, he coordinated investigation of earthquake-induced landslide affected communities, and their resettlement in safer sites.

Dr. Manjeshwari Singh is a Senior Research Specialist at Nepal Development Research Institute (NDRI). She completed her Doctoral Degree and Master's Degree in Rural and Regional Studies from Hiroshima University, Japan, and a Master's Degree in Statistics from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. She has over 16 years of work experience conducting various socio-economic research on various themes – Livelihoods, DRR, Renewable Energy, Water Supply and Sanitation (WASH), Public Health, Peace Building, Agricultural Value Chain, Flood Risk Assessment, Community Flood Early Warning, Gender-based Violence (GBV), and Food Security using both qualitative and quantitative techniques/methods. Moreover, she has experience working as a statistician on various projects. Her professional career includes; working as a Research Consultant for the HiPeC project supported by Hiroshima University, as a Program Director at NDRI, and doing consulting work with various institutions in Nepal, India, and Japan. Her specific areas of expertise include; Gender Equality and Social Inclusion, Research Methodology-survey designing and planning, Sampling and sample distribution and statistical tools and techniques (qualitative/quantitative), statistical data analysis and conducting socio-economic database research; baseline, mid-line, end-line, perception surveys, impact assessment, and evaluation studies. 

She is currently serving as a GESI and Livelihood Specialist at NDRI. Her current contribution as GESI Expert to the current NDRI project- “Understanding the gender, equality, social inclusion and distributional implications of the economics of climate change, the costs of adaptation, and bankable adaptation projects (ECONOGENESIS)” supported by FCDO-IDRC. As a Statistician in the project- Data Must Speak, supported by UNICEF.

Rudra Suwal is an  Economist and Statistician of Nepal. He has over three decades of experience working at Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Nepal. While at CBS, he has profoundly assisted the Government of Nepal (GoN) in providing and analyzing  official statistics as a government statistician. He had joined the CBS in 1988 and retired as Deputy Director General (DDG) and Head of the Social Statistics Division in 2018.  As the Division Chief and Program Coordinator, Suwal provided strategic, technical and managerial leadership in various statistical projects/activities, such as Nepal Earthquake Housing Reconstruction Survey, Nepal Labor Force Survey, Annual Household Survey, Nepal Living Standard Survey, Gender and Social Statistics, Nepal Multiple Cluster Indicator Survey, GIS and Data Processing,  Population Census and Demographic Sample Survey,  Environmental Statistics etc. Also, in the capacity of Director /Manager of the Population and Housing Census (PHC), 2011, he served as the Program Chief and Coordinator, and provided leadership throughout the stages of census planning, field operation, data processing, analysis and dissemination of census results. He worked in macroeconomic accounting and analysis (national accounts), government finance statistics. Suwal has extensive experience in the areas of Census survey operations, economic and demographic analysis, operational research, analysis and interpretation of macroeconomic statistics in policy analysis.

Even after retiring from CBS, in the private capacity, as an Expert Advisor/Consultant, Suwal  is extending his services to various government institutions, non-government organizations and multilateral institutions. AS a consultant statistician, he was a member of the team that prepared Nepal Human Development Reports 2004, 2009 and 2014 and 2019. As a Consultant, he also worked at Asian Development Bank (ADB) on macroeconomic update with the focus on 'unleashing the potential of trade in services' in Nepal. Likewise, as an Expert Consultant, he also worked with The World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Computation/Analysis of human development index, Social Inclusion Index, and Socioeconomic Mapping. 

Suwal has authored/co-authored numerous articles, research papers, and books. He holds Ph.D. in Economics from Lucknow University, India and Masers degree in Economics from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. He has also received PG Diploma in Economic Statistics from ISPC (US Census Bureau), and in Methods of Economic Research course from University of East Anglia (UEA, UK). Mr. Suwal is fluent in Nepali, English and Hindi.

Dr. Rabita Shrestha Mulmi is a Senior Research Specialist at Nepal Development Research Institute (NDRI). She is serving as the Gender and Social Inclusion (GESI) Expert at NDRI. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Philosophy from the Graduate School of Environment and Information Sciences, Yokohama National University, Japan. And Master’s in Anthropology from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Tribhuvan University, Nepal. She has more than 11 years of experience in the field of Sociology and Anthropology. 

She has a long working experience conducting socio-economic research covering different themes-Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), Early Childhood Development (ECD), Reproductive Health, Maternal and Newborn Child Health, Violence and Harassment, Gender Equity and Human Rights and Ethnographic Studies in the capacity of GESI expert, Team leader, EDI expert, ECD expert, Project Coordinator, and Anthropologist. She also has supervised international research students from Germany, the U.K. and Australia. 
 

Dr. Divas B Basnyat leads the Water and Climate Program at Nepal Development Research Institute (NDRI). He has more than 30 years of experience on University teaching, research, and consulting in 13 countries in Asia and Africa. He is currently leading several consulting assignments, including the ADB TRTA “Flood Risk Management and Asset Management Support” for the Department of Water Resources and Irrigation, the “Preparation of River Basin Plans, Hydropower Development Master Plans and Strategic Environmental and Social Assessment” for the Water and Energy Commission Secretariat (WECS), Nepal, and a research project on “Hydro-economic modelling of Kamala River Basin, Nepal”. 

He is the NDRI lead of two current research projects: “Tomorrow’s Cities – Urban Risk in Transition” supported by GCRF, UK, and “Understanding the gender, equality, social inclusion and distributional implications of the economics of climate change, the costs of adaptation, and bankable adaptation projects (ECONOGENESIS)” supported by FCDO-IDRC. His specific areas of expertise and interest are hydropower and water resources systems analysis, river basin planning and management, hydrological studies and modelling, climate change risk assessment, and water-induced disaster risk management.

Dr. Jaya Kumar Gurung is an experienced senior research specialist with expertise in environmental science, water resources, food security and climate change. He has worked in this field for 25 years and has been actively involved in evidence generation through policy research, multi-stakeholder project coordination, and policy advocacy. Dr. Gurung served Nepal Development Research Institute (NDRI) in the capacity of Executive Director (2013-2021), where he was responsible for coordinating various national and international projects and developing project implementation frameworks and monitoring strategies. He currently serves as the Program Coordinator for the Public Health and Environment Program at NDRI. Dr. Gurung has worked with various international development organizations such as USAID/Feed the Future, World Bank and other UN systems from NDRI. Currently, Dr. Gurung is involved in policy influencing reasonable tobacco taxation in Nepal through a programme conducted in collaboration with Cancer Research UK. His responsibilities include: Identifying data/policy gaps, conducting primary and secondary research, preparing policy papers, and lobbying for this policy. The impact of this policy on tobacco taxation in recent fiscal years is visible, as recognized by the award of Bloomberg No-Tobacco Day (May 31, 2023). Similarly, there are several examples where Dr. Gurung has been able to contribute to policy recommendations, such as incorporating ICT into the design of climate-smart agriculture that combines pure science with citizen science. Gurung led an extensive project in collaboration with FTF/US to identify the problem of mycotoxins in stable foods in Nepal and the policy needs. During COVID -19 (2020-2021), Dr. Gurung collaborated with Cornell University, Institute of Food Safety, US, in the capacity of Subject Matter Specialist (SME) with support from USAID to maintain an ongoing dialogue among concerned stakeholders: Scientists many parts of the world including US, scientists from Nepal, the private sector, wholesalers and retailers involved in the food sector. Dr. Jaya Kumar Gurung is an active alumnus of the U.S. Department of State’s premier professional exchange programme through his participation in the International Visitor Leadership Programme (IVLP) on “Transboundary Water Resources Management, 2011." Dr. Gurung has published several scientific articles on topics such as mycotoxin management, illegal tobacco trade, and socioeconomic reports. He has actively contributed to conferences and global science events, presenting his findings and insights on climate-smart agriculture and related challenges. With his wealth of experience, academic qualifications, and dedication to sustainable development, Dr. Gurung continues to make valuable contributions to the field of environmental sciences, water sciences, food security, and climate change. In addition to his extensive academic credentials and professional career, Dr. Gurung has research experience in several countries, including the United States, Japan, Vietnam,Korea, Bangladesh, France, and Switzerland.