The Rhododendrons of Nepal

Born in 1937 at Kathmandu, Tirtha Bahadur Shrestha spent well over 30 years in botanical collection (1961-1991) for HMG Department of Plant Resources, through extended expeditions covering Nepal. His specimens are housed in the Kathmandu Herbarium at Godawary and also at other Herbaria like the British Museum Natural History, University Museum of Tokyo, University of Grenoble, France, and the U.S. National Herbarium at the Smithsonian. Dr, Shrestha is a life member of the Royal Nepal Academy, where he served as a member for Science and Technology for over ten years (1979-1990). He was associated with The Mountain Institute when he coordinated the Makalu Barun Conservation Project. He was the first recipient of the Senior Fellowship of ICIMOD to research on the development ecology of the Arun Basin. He joined IUCN- The World Conservation Union and coordinated programmes associated with Heritage and Biodiversity Conservation during 1991 to 1999. Currently he chairs the Nepal National Committee of IUCN members. Dr. Shrestha has B.Sc. from Tri-Chandra College, Kathmandu (1959) and M. Sc. From Aligarh Muslim University India (1962). His doctorate thesis was submitted to the University of Grenoble in France (1977). Prior to that he received intensive training in The British Museum on Nepalese Flora.