On going projects
Screening of Anticancer Agent from High Altitude Plants of Nepal:-
CDB/TU has collaborated with National Cancer Institute (NCI), USA and Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG), USA to conduct a project on Screening of Anticancer Agent from High Altitude Plants of Nepal. As a first phase of the work a field visit was carried out from 25 May to 19 June 2009 in Manang Valley, Annapurna Conservation Area to collect plant sample at different altitudes. A team of three botanists (1 from Nepal and 2 from USA) and five M.Sc. first year students of CDB/TU conducted the field work. The field research was led by Dr. S.K. Ghimire of CDB/TU (Project Coordinator). The M.Sc. first year students participated in the collection trips included Laxmi Raj Joshi, Binod Koirala, Asha Paudel, Smriti Lo and Swasti Sharma. Participants from USA were Dr. Nanci Ross and Mary Merello, Botanist/Ethnobotanist from Missouri Botanical Garden. Prof. Dr. K.K. Shrestha, Head CDB/TU and Dr. Jan Salick, Curator of Ethnobotany, Missouri Botanical Garden, were also present during the initial stage of the field work and gave necessary instruction and guidance to the research team.
Central Himalayan Alpine Biodiversity, Ethnobotany, and Climate Change:-
CDB has collaborated with Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG), USA to conduct a research project “Central Himalayan Alpine Biodiversity, Ethnobotany, and Climate Change”. The project was funded by National Geographic Society of USA. The project was developed and coordinated by Dr. Jan Salick, Curator of Ethnobotany, MBG and Dr. S.K. Ghimire, Associate Professor, CDB/TU. The main aim of this project is to monitor the effects of climate change on Himalayan plant populations and communities based on long-term observation strategy for documenting biodiversity and habitat changes developed by Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments (GLORIA). Three to five sites in the Himalayas of Nepal are proposed for GLORIA sampling and Ethnobotanical interviews. As a first phase of this work, Langtang National Park (LNP) was selected for sampling. In a recent field visit (from 6 to 17 October 2009), jointly organized by CDB/TU and MBG in Gosaikunda area of LNP, four summits (at 3900, 4300, 4600 and 4800 m) were fixed and sampled along an elevation gradient between tree line and permanent snowline at ecotones. In each summit, permanent plots were established according to GLORIA methodology and vegetation, biodiversity and ethnobotanical data were collected. These data not only will provide baseline data to monitor climate change in the critical high alpine zones of the central Himalayas of Nepal but will also provide detailed information on alpine biodiversity, endemism, biogeography, plant responses to a precipitation gradient, and traditional plant use by indigenous populations. Participants for field work included Dr. S.K. Ghimire, Laxmi Raj Joshi, Binod Koirala, Asha Paudel, Smriti Lo, Swasti Sharma, Dr. Nanci Ross and Lloyd Thomas Abraham.
