Dr. Eklabya Sharma, Strategic Advisor and Senior Fellow at Bangalore based research organisation, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment has been honoured with the Padma Shri Award in the Science and Engineering category by the Government of India. 

Dr Sharma has been working towards sustainable mountain development in the Indian Himalayan region, fostering regional cooperation through science diplomacy amongst 8 countries of the Hindu Kush region. He has contributed to global discourses shaping policy in the United Nations framework convention on climate change, United Nations convention on biological diversity and United Nations sustainable development goals processes.