A profile of Mingma Norbu Sherpa Masters Scholarship recipients at Lincoln University in New Zealand

2008-10 – Anu and Salina

Anu and Salina are the first Mingma Norbu Memorial Scholarship recipients.

Dr. Anu Kumari Lama

Dr. Anu Kumari Lama is a tourism specialist at the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) based in Kathmandu. Anu completed her master's thesis on the vulnerability of nature-based tourism to climate change in the Annapurna Conservation Area. In 2011, Anu won the Humboldt International Climate Protection Fellowship in Germany and was awarded her PhD on February 3rd, 2016.
Anu is one of the Lead Experts of the International Tourism Panel on Climate Change (TPCC), launched on COP 27, to bring the sustainable tourism and net zero agenda of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) to the discourse of mainstream climate action and sustainable development goals. She also serves as an External Assessor of the Mountain Protection Award of the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA), reviewer of the Journal - Current Research in Environmental Sustainability, resource person of the Himalayan University Consortium’s Thematic Working Groups (TWGs) - Mountain Tourism and Cultural Heritage.

Dr Salina Poudyal

Dr. Salina Poudyal is a water quality scientist for Christchurch City Council, assisting them in reviewing environmental plans, developing water quality guidelines, scientific scope writing, research design, and technical writing and publications. Salina completed her master's in Environmental Policy from Lincoln University and her doctorate from the University of Canterbury, Civil and Natural Resources Engineering Department in 2019. In doing so, she became the first Nepalese female to gain a PhD from the University.
Her dedication to completing her PhD. while raising two young children is commendable- a testament to the power of hard work and self-belief. Her accomplishment is not only a personal achievement but also an inspiration to her family, community, and young women everywhere.

2010-12 and 2011-13 – Laxmi and Ananath

Laxmi Gurung

Ms. Laxmi Gurung is a director of the Organic Village Pvt. Ltd, managing and promoting the sales and marketing of organically produced, environmentally friendly products to international and domestic markets. She completed her master's in Parks Recreation & Tourism Management at Lincoln.
Laxmi also manages the family hospitality business of the YakDonald’s Hotel and Restaurant and resides in her home village, Kagbeni. She previously worked as a Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction section officer in Mustang District. In 2015, Laxmi’s life story was featured in Good Magazine, New Zealand. She recently worked with the Kagbeni community and local government in coordinating the disaster flood response that devastated the village in September 2023.

**Ananath Baral**

Mr. Ananath Baral is a senior member of Nepal’s Department of National Park & Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) and is currently the director of the National Zoological Garden, Bhaktapur. He completed his master's degree in Applied Science at Lincoln in February 2013, working on the impacts of wildlife tourism on the poaching of the Greater One-horned Rhinoceros in Chitwan National Park, Nepal, for which he was awarded a distinction.
Ananath has worked for the DNPWC of the Ministry of Forest and Environment, serving as a chief warden for several protected areas, including Chitwan National Park, Makalu Barun National Park, Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve and Bardia National Park. He also received the “Chief of the Army Staff (CoAS) Commendation Badge” from the Nepal Army for excellent work and coordination with the Nepal Army during fieldwork.

2012-14 – Doma and Ujjwal

Doma Tshering

Ms. Doma Tshering Sherpa is from the SoluKhumbu region of Nepal. She is a Project Officer at WWF-Nepal, working on the project “National Planning for an Inclusive and Effective Conservation Approach”. She holds a master's degree in Natural Resource Management and Ecological Engineering, offered jointly with BOKU University in Austria. Her thesis was “How to share the potential benefits of REDD+? The case of Nepal”.
Doma is a passionate advocate of environmental management and sustainability. Her educational and professional background has been focused on engaging in various projects and programs to solve the challenges of environmental problems. Previously, she worked in multiple capacities for UNDP Nepal and the Ministry of Finance on the Green Climate Fund Readiness and Preparatory Support project; UNIDO and the Ministry of Forests and Environment on the Enabling Activities to Conduct Minamata Convention Initial Assessment in Nepal project; and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) Communication and PR unit.
A proud mother of two wonderful boys, Her love for nature is evident in her frequent visits to the woods. She enjoys participating in outdoor games and practicing yoga as her pastime activities. Doma helps coordinate ANNZA (Association of Nepal New Zealand Alumni) in Kathmandu.

Ujjwal Meghi Gurung

Mr. Ujjwal Meghi Gurung comes from the Shankhuwasava district, a remote eastern mountain region of Nepal. Ujjwal is an Environmental Security officer for INTERPOL, Predator Project, working on wildlife crime control in the Asia Pacific region based in Singapore. He is part of the Global Wildlife Enforcement Team and is involved in various Combating Wildlife Crime (CWT) projects providing investigative, analytical and capacity support to INTERPOL member countries in Southeast and South Asia, including Nepal.

At Lincoln, Ujjwal completed a Master’s in Resource Studies with research on “Tiger in Landscapes, tiger in Mindscapes: a Constructionist Analysis of Tiger Conservation through Corridor Management in the Terai Arc Landscape, Nepal”. Having worked as a consultant for the INTERPOL Environmental Security Programme (ENS), helping to establish a regional network of wildlife enforcement agencies in South Asia, He then joined INTERPOL ENS in 2017 as a staff member and moved to its Asia and Pacific Liaison Office in Bangkok and recently to the Global Innovation Complex in Singapore.

2014-16 – Pratigya and Krishna

Pratigya Silwal

Ms. Pratigya Silwal is from the Lalitpur district in the Kathmandu Valley. She’s a Locally Led Development Specialist (Program Management Specialist) at USAID Nepal, coordinating, designing, and managing the local works portfolio under the Economic Growth Office and facilitating local actors to address the development challenges of Nepal.
Pratigya completed a master's in Sustainable Natural Resource Management and Ecological Engineering at Lincoln in a joint course with BOKU University in Austria on “Local Adaptation Plans of Action (LAPAs): An Analysis of Approaches to Planning for Climate Change in Nepal”. Pratigya’s thesis was also published in Taylor & Francis peer-reviewed journal 2019.
She has been previously associated with the International Centre for Mountain Development (ICIMOD) as a Program Officer for a Regional Program on Adaptation and Resilience building, as a Disaster Risk Reduction Coordinator for Save the Children with DFID’s Livelihoods and Forestry Programme (LFP) and CARE Nepal.

Pratigya Silwal and Krishna Prasad Gurung with Dr Shailendra.jpg — Krishna Gurung

Mr. Krishna Gurung is from the Nepal district of Ghandruk (Annapurna). He is a Freelance Tourism Consultant / Managing Director for Wilderness Explorer Himalaya, which, amongst other activities, is developing a sustainable mountain lodge operation in the Annapurnas. Krishna achieved his master's in Tourism Management at Lincoln. Krishna has extensive experience in the field of ecotourism, having worked at WWF Nepal as an ecotourism officer, as well as with the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) in Jomsom for over a decade from 1999 to 2014.
(Pratigya Silwal and Krishna Prasad Gurung with Dr Shailendra at the NZ Consulate)

2016-18 – Rebecca and Sonam

Rebecca Gurung

Ms. Rebecca Gurung is from Lamjung district and holds a Master of Applied Science in Environmental Management from Lincoln University (2016-18). She is a Climate Adaptation Specialist in USAID Biodiversity activity based at Pokhara Landscape Office, overlooking priority areas, Chitwan Annapurna Landscape and Nepal's newly proposed Karnali Conservation Landscape.
Rebecca previously worked in the Ecosystem-based Adaptation in Mountain Ecosystems in Nepal (EbA) project as a field support associate in the Panchase Protected Forest Area (PPFA), which adjoins Kaski, Syangja and Parbat Districts. She was a District Climate Change Specialist in West Rukum and East Rukum districts for four years (2019-2022) in a project undertaken by the Ministry of Forests and Environment funded by IFAD called Adaptation for Smallholders in Hilly Areas.
(March 2018 Rebecca Gurung submits her thesis)

Mr Sonam Tashi Lama

Mr. Sonam Tashi Lama is from Taplejung District in eastern Nepal. Sonam has been with Red Panda Network (RPN) since the beginning (2007). Sonam serves as RPN's Conservation Program Manager in Nepal, responsible for implementing and developing community-based conservation programs throughout the country's red panda range.
Sonam earned an MSc in International Nature Conservation from Lincoln University in New Zealand and Goettingen University in Germany after conducting one of the most comprehensive camera trapping studies in the eastern Himalayas, which produced the first photographic evidence of a marbled cat.
Sonam joined RPN in 2007 as a Community Coordinator in eastern Nepal. He was responsible for conservation outreach campaigns and hiring and training Forest Guardians, now a national team of over 100 citizen scientists and conservation ambassadors. He was recognised for his pioneering grassroots work in conserving red pandas by the Disney Conservation Award in 2015 in the USA and in 2022 by the prestigious Whitley Conservation Award from Whitely Fund for Nature UK presented by HRH The Princess Royal. His red panda conservation career has been featured in National Geographic, Guardians, BBC WildlifeMagazine, Mongabay, AllCreatures PodCast, and Nepali Times.
Sonam works closely with RPN's partner organisations in 13 districts across Nepal to help them maximise their impacts on the ground. He has experience in project management, grant management, donor relations, education and outreach — he hosted a YouTube series called Habre Guff-Gaff — and community capacity building.
(Sonam Tashi Lama and Rebecca Gurung with Prof David Simmons point to Mingma's name in the Lincoln University cafe)

2018-20: Sunil Tamang and Ngawang Thapke Sherpa

Sunil Tamang

Mr. Sunil Tamang comes from Langtang Valley. He is an Erasmus Mundus scholar focusing on geospatial technologies at the University of Muenster in Germany, developing a machine-learning framework for understanding and characterising building inventories related to natural hazard risk models.
Sunil completed a Master of Applied Science with First Class Honours in Disaster Risk Management at Lincoln University. His prior work involvement includes ICIMOD`s IDRC-funded post-2015 Nepal earthquake reconstruction and recovery project and a Research Associate for UKGRI`s GCRF Collective Programme (2021-2023) funded Sajag-Nepal Project: Planning and Preparedness for the mountain hazard and risk chain in Nepal. This project enhanced planning and preparedness concerning Nepal's mountain hazard and risk chain. Sunil has been awarded the Geospatial Research Institute (GRI) Toi Hangarau PhD Scholarship and the University of Canterbury (UC) Doctoral Scholarship, commencing his academic year in 2024.
He is interested in long-distance hiking and has completed several impressive journeys. One such journey was a solo trek of about 2000 km along the Nepal section of the Great Himalayan Trail in 2011. He also recently walked the Camino de Santiago, a trail spanning 623 km in northern Spain.
(Sunil in NW Ridge Campbell Island)

Ngawang Thapke Sherpa

**Ngawang Thapke Sherpa** comes from a village, off the trekking trail, in the Everest region. He completed a BS in Environment Management in 2015 with inclusion in Dean’s List from Pokhara University. In 2016 and 2017, he worked at Mountain Spirit Nepal as a Program Officer and he was responsible for implementing conservation and community development programs and activities such as saving and credit programs linked to snow leopard conservation in Sagarmatha National Park, and supervising a post-earthquake reconstruction of a monastic hostel at Thame valley.
He completed a masters in Natural Resources Management and Ecological Engineering with First Class Honours from Lincoln University in 2020. After returning to Nepal, he re-joined Mountain Spirit and currently he is working as a researcher for the "Sustaining Snow leopard conservation through strengthened local institutions” project, funded by the Darwin Initiative UK and Snow Leopard Conservancy USA. In early 2021, he also worked as a CO-PI for the “Defining and Practicing Safe Adventure Travel During a Time of Uncertainty: The Case of Nepal” project, funded by the National Geographic Society.
(Ngawang distributing predator deterrent foxlights in Khumbu as part of the snow leopard conservation project that he is working with)

2020-2022 Pasang and Tsewang

**Ms Pasang Lamu Sherpa**

**Ms. Pasang Lamu Sherpa** from the Solukhumbu Region currently serves as the President of the Sherpa Society of New Zealand from February 2023 until February 2025. Her engagement focuses on funding and social and community work with Sherpa people in New Zealand.
Pasang Sherpa completed a Master of Applied Science, with her thesis on examining tourism development themes in Nepal. Pasang focused on how “place” is created in tourism and investigated the use of online images to promote the Khumbu District. Pasang has a background in the tourism sector in Nepal and is still active in corresponding and handling the trekking logistics from her home in Nelson, New Zealand. Pasang has extensive experience in various administrative roles within the trekking industry of Nepal, working with companies such as Yeti Mountain Home Pvt. Ltd, Comfort Trek Pvt. Ltd, and Nepali Travellers/Solo Travel Nepal (Non-Profit Organization).

**Mr Tsewang Nuru Sherpa**

**Mr. Tsewang Nuru Sherpa** hails from the Khumbu region of Nepal and is an environmental scientist with expertise in climate change and environmental management. Tsewang holds a research associate position at Lincoln University, where he is involved in assessing the impact of social enterprise and serves as a Program Associate for the “Himalayan Project”, which provides education in the Khumbu region. Tsewang is also a freelance journalist and has previously served as an environmental reporter for the Kathmandu Post. He now covers topics related to climate change, outdoor adventure and responsible travel.
Tsewang has obtained a Master's in Applied Science, specialising in Environmental Management from Lincoln University. His research was centred on the persistent waste issue on Mount Everest and gained recognition as one of the finalists for the “3-Minute Thesis” competition and was featured on prominent global news channels such as NZ Education, DailyMail, STUFF NZ, and Wilderness Magazine.
Tsewang’s professional background includes being a researcher for the Aquatic Ecology Centre at Kathmandu University, a youth delegate for climate action for the United Nations, and in various capacities with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Tsewang's affiliation with WWF began with WWF-Nepal’s "The Generation Green" program, then worked with WWF International in Paraguay and WWF-New Zealand.

2023-2025: Fenchoke Chuttin Sherpa and Roshni Gurung

Roshni Gurung

Ms. Roshni Gurung comes from the Annapurna region's beautiful Gurung village, Sikles. She graduated with a Bachelor's (First Class Honors) in Environmental Science; she is pursuing a Master of Applied Science in Environmental Management at Lincoln University. Roshni’s past experiences include being a youth coordinator for ICCA Consortium Nepal and a Media Monitoring Intern for the Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists. Roshni was involved with WWF-Nepal, where she assisted in creating a booklet of former WWF Nepal Memorial scholars from May to July 2021. She also helped prepare a profile booklet for all 190 WWF Nepal Conservation Awards awardees from 1995 to 2022, between April and June 2022. She alludes to all these experiences as catalysts for her strong research interest in Himalayan rivers, climate change, environmental justice and indigenous people, allowing her to see many realities and vulnerabilities of Nepal and its people.