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Dr Eklabya Sharma is an ecologist with over 40 years of experience in sustainable mountain development. He has contributed to the resilience building of nature and the people of the Himalayan region. His pioneering research in the field of nitrogen fixation, accretion and bio-geochemical cycle in the Eastern Himalaya is globally recognized. He further contributed to biodiversity conservation, natural resources management, transboundary landscape management, biogeochemical cycling in ecosystems including agroforestry systems, watershed management, climate change impact assessments, ecotourism, adaptation and ecosystem-based solutions in multi-functional landscapes and river basins, and resilience building in the Himalayan region.
Dr Sharma contributed in the knowledge development and promoted its use in policy and practices by holding various national and international positions such as (1) Regional Head of the G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment; (2) the Deputy Director General at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD); (3) Vice-Chancellor of TERI School of Advanced Studies.
Recognizing his significant contribution in the field of science, Dr Sharma was elected Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA); Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences (NASI); and Fellow of the National Institute of Ecology (NIE). Received Visiting Scientist Fellowship in the University of Glasgow, Scotland under exchange programme between Indian National Science Academy and Royal Society of London. Dr Sharma is recipient of many national and international awards including the Young Scientist Award of the Indian National Science Academy; Vishisht Vaigyanik Puraskar from the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change, Government of India; and Honourable Mention Paper Award from the Soil and Water Conservation Society, USA. He received the “Excellence Award” for contributions in Science and Environment towards development of the Modern India from the Sikkim University and Government of Sikkim; and the Government of Sikkim also conferred on him its ‘Social Status Award’ for his contribution on the environment.
Dr Sharma contributed to many global discourses including promoting the mountain agenda in United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), United nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) processes and helped in closing science gaps on Hindu Kush Himalaya mountain knowledge in Inter-governmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) and Inter-governmental Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) processes.
Dr Sharma contributed to many national and international initiatives of which to mention some are: Honorary Trustee of The Mountain Institute, USA; Member of Steering Committee of the UNEP’s “Global Mountain Waste Management Outlook”, coordinated by UNEP Vienna Office; Member of Steering Committee of the Nutrition in Mountain Agriculture Programme of Switzerland in three Continents namely Asia, Africa and South America; Member of the Silk Road Development Global Think Tank with Secretariat at the Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Beijing, China; Member of Adhoc Expert Committee on Mountain Biodiversity of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Montreal, Canada; Member of the Expert Panel on ‘Research for Development’ call of the Swiss National Science Foundation and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Switzerland; Member Steering Committee of IUCN’s ‘The Asia Protected Areas Partnership’, IUCN Regional Office Bangkok, Thailand; Member of Governing Council of Sikkim Manipal University of Health, Medical & Technological Sciences, Sikkim, India; Advisor, Mountain Environment and Development, Chief Minister’s Office, Government of Sikkim; and Member of Board, SaciWaters, India.
Dr Sharma has more than 210 publications in the form of books, book chapters and research papers in international journals.
