Human Resources
Human Resources
Farooq Ahmad
E-mail: fahmad@icimod.org.np
Designation: Coordinator, Beekeeping
Specialisation: Apiculture, Integrated Pest Management, Community based Sustainable DevelopmentDr. Farooq Ahmad has a Ph.D. in Plant Protection from Leningrad Agriculture Institute, Russia (Former Soviet Union). He has a Masters and Bachelors degree in Agricultural Entomology from the University of Peshawar, Pakistan. Dr. Ahmad attended courses on beekeeping management, at Ohio State University and Forte Valley State College, USA. He has many years of experience in Beekeeping Development in Mountain Environments and Marginal Cropping Systems. He has supervised multidisciplinary team of scientists, development workers, prepared income generating projects for poor communities in mountain areas and coordinated community- based apiculture and IPM programs in Pakistan. Dr. Ahmad is a Member of Entomological Society of Pakistan. He joined ICIMOD in August 1999 and his primary is to promote the sustainable management of Apis cerana and other Indigenous honeybee species in Hindu Kush- Himalayas, to benefit mountain communities and mountain biodiversity.
Mr. Min Bahadur Gurung
E-mail: mgurung@icimod.org.np
Designation : National Officer - Institutional Development, Beekeeping Project
Specialisation: Mountain Agroecology, Crop Genetic ResourcesM. Min Bahadur Gurung has a Bachelor's degree in agriculture from Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, Chitwan, Nepal and a Master's degree in Rural Social Development from Reading University, UK, with a particular focus on participatory extension research programme. He worked as an Outreach Agronomist for the Pakhribas Agricultural Centre, Dhankuta, Nepal from 1983 to 1995. As a District Development Advisor at Participatory District Development Programme of UNDP Mr. Gurung worked with local authorities of Nepal to promote participatory development and good governance. Before joining ICIMOD in November 1999, he worked in the third Livestock Development Project of the Department of Livestock. At ICIMOD he is responsible for promoting sustainable mountain development through institutional strengthening and capability building of partners institutions involved in beekeeping.
Surendra Joshi
E-mail: sjoshi@icimod.org.np
Designation: Action Research Officer, Beekeeping Project
Specialisation: Botany, Melissopalynology, Honey Analysis and BeekeepingDr. Surendra Raj Joshi has a Ph.D. in Applied Natural Sciences from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Vienna, Austria and an M.Sc. in Botany from Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal. He has worked in areas ranging from grassland ecology, melissopalynology, and honey analysis to participatory action research in beekeeping. He was part of ICIMOD's Beekeeping Project team from 1994 to 1997, establishing demonstration apiaries and running beekeeping training, extension and research activities in Dadeldhura district, Nepal. Dr. Joshi has published seven research papers in international journals and conference proceedings. Currently he is working on the on-farm and the participatory action research programme on Apis cerana selection and management, and studies on indigenous honeybees and honey hunters.
.Dr. Uma Partap
E-mail: mfs@icimod.org.np
Designation : Research Officer, Beekeeping Project
Specialisation : Biological SciencesDr. Uma Partap has an M.Sc., M. Phil., and a Ph. D. (Drought Ecophysiology) in Biological Sciences from Himachal Pradesh University, India. She has 14 years' research experience in areas ranging from ecophysiology/drought stress with fundamental implications for managing water conservation within crop plants in dryland farming to research on the Himalayan Honeybee Apis cerana. She was a Research Fellow at the Himachal Pradesh University from 1983 to 1988, and a Research Associate at the Y.S.Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Himachal Pradesh in 1989. At ICIMOD, she is working on the promotion and development of beekeeping through the preservation of the indigenous Himalayan Honeybee species, Apis cerana, especially in crop pollination, pollen data bank building, genetic diversity of Apis cerana and beekeeping extension training. She has published about 25 research papers, most of which concern drought ecophysiology and the Himalayan Honeybee, and has also contributed towards the handbook on beekeeping of Apis cerana for extension workers and farmers.
Arjen F. Rotmans
E-mail: arotmans@icimod.org.np
Designation: Research Associate
Specialisation: Natural Resources, Hydrology, Spatial Analysis and Land UseMr. Rotmans has an M.Sc. degree in Physical Geography from the University of Utrecht, Netherlands. His previous assignments were with the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) in East Africa, International Institute for Land Reclamation and Improvement (ILRI), and International Soil Reference and Information Centre (ISRIC) in the Netherlands. Mr. Rotmans has worked in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Niger, India, Guyana and France. In February 2000 he joined ICIMOD's Mountain Farming System's Division as part of the Eco-Regional Project Mr. Rotmans has extensive experience in the field of natural resources.
Eklabya Sharma
E-Mail: esharma@icimod.org.np
Designation: Head, Mountain Farming Systems Division
Specialization: Agroforestry, soil fertility, nitrogen fixation, hydrology, integrated watershed management, and biodiversity conservation
Dr Eklabya Sharma has a Ph.D. and an M.Sc. in Botany from the Banaras Hindu University, India. His entire professional career of applied research in the past 17 years has centred around ecological problems in the Himalaya and their solutions. His previous assignment was with the G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development as Scientist In-Charge for the Sikkim regional centre. He has supervised five Ph.D. students and has about 77 publications to his credit. He has made outstanding contributions to international journals on subjects such as agroforestry systems, nitrogen fixation by non-leguminous trees of the Himalaya, hydrology and biodiversity conservation. He joined ICIMOD in September 2001 and is involved in the sustainable development of mountain farming systems of the HKH region.Mr. Suraj B. Thapa
E-mail: suthapa@icimod.org.np
Designation : Farm Manager, Godavari
Specialisation : Horticulture and Farm ManagementMr. Suraj B. Thapa has an M.Sc. in Horticulture from the Rajendra Agricultural University, Pusa, India. He has also received training in Vegetable and Seed Production from the Vegetable and Ornamental Crops Research Station in Kurume, Japan; in Planning and Management of Rural Development Projects from the University of The Philippines at Los Banos, The Philippines and in Trainers' Skills' Development from the Nepal Administrative Staff College. He has worked in the field of horticulture, agriculture, and integrated rural development in Nepal for 25 years. He was the Project Manager of the Asian Development Bank's Integrated Rural Development - Upper Sagarmatha Agricultural Development Project in the remote Himalayan mountain districts of Nepal. He was also a Training Coordinator for Agricultural Service Officers of the Nepalese Government and a Horticulturist in the World Bank's Rasuwa-Nuwakot Integrated Rural Development Project, Nepal. He helped develop and manage ICIMOD's Trial and Demonstration site in Godavari where he is the Farm Manager since 1996. Mr. Thapa looks after the testing of different technologies, on-site training and demonstrations, germplasm collection and monitoring of different species and varieties of fruit and other useful plants that may be suitable for sustainable mountain development.
