Dr. Shankar Shrestha

Co-Lead, Water and Climate Program (Water Resources and Environmental Management)

Dr. Shankar Shrestha (Email: shankar@ndri.org.np) is a Senior Research Specialist and the immediate past Executive Director (ED) (13 February 2022 – 12 February 2025) of Nepal Development Research Institute (NDRI). As an ED, he had been extensively involved in monitoring and evaluation of majority of the NDRI projects/studies in order to ensure high quality. In some projects, Dr. Shrestha has served as a Team Leader, Project Coordinator and/or Team Member. Dr. Shrestha has a PhD (Engineering) in Integrated River Basin Management and a Postdoc from the University of Yamanashi, Japan. He has more than 14 years of interdisciplinary research experience in the areas of water, agriculture and environment. Specifically, his research has covered areas of water and crop quality assessment, water resources management, climate risk assessment, flood risk assessment and non-point source pollution modeling, among others. Dr. Shrestha is the recipient of “The WET Excellent Presentation Award” at the Water and Environment Technology Conference 2016, August 28, 2016 at Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan for his research on health risk assessment from the use of contaminated water. Dr. Shrestha has represented Nepal in various national and international conferences/meetings in Bangladesh, India, Japan, Thailand and USA as an invited speaker/panellist/guest (Details in the Participation section below). Dr. Shrestha is also a Guest Reviewer of various national and international journals (anonymous) and a Visiting Faculty at a Kathmandu University affiliated college in Kathmandu, Nepal. 

Selected Publications: 

• D Shrestha, DB Basnyat, S Shrestha, D Pradhananga (2024). Building capacities for climate resilient water resources development under climate uncertainty (Summary Report). Nepal Development Research Institute, Kathmandu, Nepal. 

• R Suwal, S Raila, and S. Shrestha (2024). MONETARY POLICY ANALYSIS 2081/82: A Comprehensive Review of the National Monetary Policy of Nepal and its Implications. Nepal Development Research Institute, Kathmandu, Nepal. 

• R Suwal, S Raila, A Lamichhane, S Shrestha, and D Rokaya (2024). Analysis of the National Budget of Nepal 2023/24. Nepal Development Research Institute, Kathmandu, Nepal. 

• D Shrestha, DB Basnyat, J Gyawali, MJ Creed, HD Sinclair, B Golding, M Muthusamy, S Shrestha, CS Watson, DL Subedi, and R Haiju (2023). Rainfall extremes under future climate change with implications for urban flood risk in Kathmandu, Nepal. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Volume 97, 15 October 2023, 103997 

• G Shah, NR Khatiwada, RK Dahal, S Shrestha, R Shrestha, and R Shrestha (2021). Evidence-based and Participatory Policymaking in BIMSTEC Countries, In Sreeradha Datta, ed., BIMSTEC: The Journey and The Way Ahead, 69-87, Pentagon Press, New Delhi, India. 

• S Shrestha, M Maharjan, NR Khatiwada, and B Thapa (2020). Leachate Characterization and Management at Sisdol Landfill Site in Nepal. Journal of Development Innovations, 4(1): 119-132. 

• DB Basnyat, D Shrestha, S Thapa, S Bajimaya, M Maharjan, S Shrestha, and S Dhungana (2020). Post-Flood Assessment of the 2019 Flooding in the Bagmati River Basin, Nepal. Journal of Development Innovations, 4(1): 20-47. 

• S Shrestha, E Haramoto, and J Shindo (2017). Assessing the infection risk of enteropathogens from consumption of raw vegetables washed with contaminated water in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. Journal of Applied Microbiology, 123(5), 1321-1334.  

• S Shrestha, E Haramoto, JB Sherchand, S Hada, S Rajbhandari, and J Shindo (2016). Prevalence of Protozoa and Indicator Bacteria in Wastewater Irrigation Sources in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal: Cases from Kirtipur, Bhaktapur and Madhyapur Thimi Municipalities. Journal of Water and Environment Technology, 14(3): 149-157. 

• S Shrestha and S Shrestha (2014). Evaluation of the PESTFADE model using field-measured data from a sprinkler-irrigated soybean field in Pathumthani, Thailand. Journal of Applied Water Engineering and Research, 2(1), 57-69.  

Participation in Key Events (Selected): 

• Participated as a Panellist in the “Regional Consultation on Innovative Ideas and Knowledge Sharing” in the session on “Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Efforts in the South Asia and Southeast Asia”, December 14, 2024, at Kathmandu, Nepal organized by Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Dhaka, Bangladesh in collaboration with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. 

• Participated as an Organizing Partner in the 30th Annual ISDRS International Conference on Sustainable Development Research, June 11-13, 2024 at Kathmandu Nepal organized by International Sustainable Development Research Society (ISDRS). 

• Participated as a Collaborator and Partner in Groundwater Symposium, at Kathmandu Nepal organized by Center of Research for Environment, Energy and Water (CREEW), The Small Earth Nepal (SEN) and Kathmandu Valley Water Supply Management Board (KVSWMB), Government of Nepal. 

• Participated as a Panellist in the 14th South Asia Economic Summit (SAES XIV), November 4-5, 2023, at Dhaka, Bangladesh organized by Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Dhaka, Bangladesh 

• Participated as a Team Member on Sustained Dialogue on Peaceful Uses (SDPU) on the Peaceful Use of Nuclear Science and Technology for Food and Water Security, April-May 2023, at Texas and Washington D.C., USA, organized by Texas A&M University and US Department of State, respectively. 

• Participated as a Panellist in International Conference on Water Management and Climate Change, Jan 23-25, 2023, at Karnataka, India organized by Water and Land Management Institute (WALMI), Karnataka, India. 

• Participated as a Speaker in WasteSafe2019 (6th International Conference on Integrated Solid Waste & Faecal Sludge Management in South-Asian Countries), Feb 2019, at Khulna, Bangladesh organized by Khulna University of Engineering & Technology (KUET), Bangladesh; Bauhaus University Weimar, Germany; University of Padova, Italy; and International Waste Working Group (IWWG). 

• Participated as a Trainee in APCC Training Program on Climate Variability and Seasonal Prediction, November 19-30, 2012, at APEC Climate Center (APCC), Busan, Republic of Korea organized by APCC, Busan, Republic of Korea.