The Small Earth Nepal (SEN) hosted a meeting with Professor Tao Che, Director of the Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing of Gansu Province, Heihe Remote Sensing Experimental Research Station, and the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Dr. Tonghua Wu, Research Scientist with the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Deputy Director at the State Key Laboratory of Cryosphere Science, and Director of the Cryosphere Research Station on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
Professor Tao Che is one of the collaborators on the ongoing project “Enhancing Climate Resilience in South Asia and China: Predicting Precipitation Shifts and Their Impacts for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resource Security,” led by SEN with support from Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN). Professor Rijan Bhakta Kayastha, Professor of Glaciology at HiCCDRC, Kathmandu University, and the chair of the International Conference on Mountain Hydrology and Cryosphere (ICMHC, 2023), also accompanied the team.
Ms. Ayaswori Byanju, Research Associate, SEN, welcomed the team. Mr. Bhawani S. Dongol, Executive Director, SEN, provided an overview of SEN’s programs, highlighting its ongoing projects and initiatives focused on climate and environmental research in the Himalayas. Mr. Kumar Aryal, Assistant Professor at the Department of Meteorology, Tri-Chandra Multiple Campus, and Research Affiliate to SEN, demonstrated the climate data analysis completed for the APN Project.
Dr. Dhiraj Pradhananga, President, SEN and Principal Investigator of the APN project (CRRP2024-06MY-Pradhananga), shared key ideas and proposals for collaboration. He discussed the development of a Monsoon Atlas for the Tibetan region, which could replicate analyses similar to the SEN’s work in South Asia. He also proposed hosting interactive datasets on China’s server to ensure broader accessibility and suggested researcher exchanges between Nepal and China. Additionally, he shared about the relevant global networks, the International Network for Alpine Research Catchment Hydrology (INARCH), the UNESCO Chair in Mountain Water Sustainability, the International Commission for Snow and Ice Hydrology (ICSIH, IAHS), and the International Year of Glacier Preservation (IYGP-2025). The team also discussed collaborative projects beyond 2026. Prof. Tao Che and Dr. Tonghua Wu expressed a strong interest in these initiatives, particularly the possibility of hosting workshops in China under the APN Project.
The meeting highlighted opportunities to jointly advance climate research and strengthen regional collaboration on cryospheric and hydrological sciences.
