Prakash Singh Thapa is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Ecosystem-based Solutions for Disaster Risk Reduction (Eco-DRR) at Ishikawa Prefectural University, Japan. He holds a master's degree in forestry from Tribhuvan University, Nepal and was honored with a Gold Medal from the Rt. Honorable President of Nepal for his outstanding academic performance. Concurrently, he serves as an Under-secretary in the Department of Forests and Soil Conservation under the Ministry of Forests and Environment, Government of Nepal. He has earned nearly 15 years of experience as a Government Officer in various facets of expertise, including Forest Management, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), Soil Conservation & Watershed Management, and Springshed Management. He recently achieved noteworthy milestones as a project coordinator for two watershed initiatives: "Landslide Prevention and Stabilization of Slopes in the Most Earthquake Affected District of Nepal," carried out in collaboration with the Government of Nepal and FAO TCP/NEP/3601; and "Building Resilience to Landslides through Support for Community-Based Rehabilitation and Mitigation Actions and the Establishment of Early Warning Systems in Nepal," executed in partnership with the Government of Nepal, FAO, and USAID OSRO/NEP/602. These endeavors were undertaken in response to a significant earthquake in Nepal. Mr. Thapa’s contributions extend to scholarly pursuits, reflected in his publication record encompassing articles in national and international journals concerning forestry and watershed management.

Sunita Ranabhat, from Nepal is working as Provincial Coordinator at the JICA funded Project for Climate Change Adaptation through Sustainable Forest Management in Nepal. She brings more than 10 years’ experience in the sector of forest and ecosystem services, climate change adaptation and policy analysis. She has published articles on national and international journals. Ms. Ranabhat holds B.Sc in Forestry from Institute of Forestry, Tribhuwan University Nepal and M.Sc. in Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology from University of Göttingen, Germany.

Kishor Aryal is a PhD researcher in ecosystem services from the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ), Australia. He has done two master’s degrees, one from Wageningen University of The Netherlands and another from Tribhuvan University of Nepal. Throughout his career, he has received various fellowships for research and training (i.e., NUFFIC Scholarship, UNEP fellowship, Australian Government RTP scholarship). He has co-produced 26 peer-reviewed articles in international refereed journals (21 of them in Q1 journals & 17 of them as the lead author), and few more articles are under review. He won the Student Publication Excellence Award in 2023 and was awarded as the ‘Featured Student’ in 2021 at UniSQ. He has been involved in research and teaching programs in various subjects at UniSQ. He taught into B.Sc. Forestry courses for 3 years at the Kathmandu Forestry College and served the roles of training officer and technology extension officer for the government of Nepal. Further, he has worked for ICIMOD (an inter-governmental research organization of 8 Hindu-Kush Himalayan Countries) as a researcher. For the last 15 years, he has been working with the Government of Nepal, and is equipped with policy and practical knowledge and experience in environmental science and ecosystem management. He has a unique capacity to operationalize the science-policy interface through his long-served role as an officer under the Government of Nepal and a researcher in ecosystem services and natural resource management.

Bindu Ghimire is pursuing her Ph.D. specializing in investigating the cause and effect of the Bagmati River's (independent sub-basin) as well as its tributaries' slumping condition in central Nepal. Her research addresses the impacts of the deterioration in water quality of Bagmati river on both livestock and human populations. Her academic pursuits are based at Nepal's Tribhuvan University where she is serving as associate professor since 2017. She has dedicated herself to imparting knowledge to and guiding graduate students through this capacity. She is conversant on wide range of topics, including climate change, livelihood and health. A solid grounding in environmental microbiology combines alongside with this wide-ranging expertise. She has played a significant part in contributing to numerous published articles and book chapters.

Kabi Raj Khatiwada is an environmental graduate, specializing in climate change, water resources, and greenhouse gas assessment. He employs modeling tools and climate data products for the analysis, interpretation, and visualization of climatic and biogeological information at various scales. He is passionate about understanding the changing climate and the different components of the water cycle, watershed management, future scenarios, and climate induced disasters. His experience includes working as a water resource analyst at the esteemed ICIMOD, where he was extensively engaged in responsibilities encompassing promotion of sustainable watershed management, the analysis of hydrometeorological data, and assessments of water balance dynamics. Additionally, he has conducted training sessions for professionals from both governmental and private sectors, educating them on the effective utilization of data for policy formulation and decision-making. Through these engagements, he has fostered comprehensive information on the intricate interplay between water systems and the surrounding environment.