ICIMOD Mountain Chair

ICIMOD Mountain Chairs Dr Jyoti Prakash Tamang and Dr Christopher Scott hold the chair for twoyear terms each, from 2019-2021 and 2020-2022, respectively.

Dr Tamang is Professor, Department of Microbiology, Sikkim University, India, and is a pioneer food microbiologist working on interpretation of ethno-microbiology. During his tenure, he plans to conduct research on ethnic foods and promote regional collaboration for research on mountain issues in Bhutan, China and Myanmar.

Dr Scott is Director and Research Professor, Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, University of Arizona, USA. As ICIMOD Mountain Chair, he will focus on water security linked with energy cooperation and transboundary waters in the eastern Ganges and western Brahmaputra confluence, including provisionally the Teesta– Jamuna and Koshi sub-basins.

The ICIMOD Mountain Chair is an honorary title conferred to outstanding scholars from member institutions of the Himalayan University Consortium (HUC) which is expected to enhance academic work on sustainable mountain development and create a stream of senior scholars who serve as catalysts for regional collaboration in research and training on mountain-specific issues in the HKH.

The first ICIMOD Mountain Chair title was conferred in 2017 to Dr Phanchung, Director General, Department of Research and External Relations at the Royal University of Bhutan. Dr Phanchung helped strengthen inter-university research and academic cooperation among HUC member institutions through his two-year tenure.