Professor Dr. Ambika P. Gautam has an MSc and PhD in Natural Resources Management (NRM) from the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Forest Survey from the International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation, the Netherlands. Dr. Gautam is a NRM professional and academician with over 35 years of experience in developing, managing, and implementing NRM programs and teaching NRM and forestry subjects in reputed universities in south and south-east Asia. Prior to joining Kathmandu Forestry College as a professor, he worked for the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) as the Program Manager and Country Representative for Afghanistan, and a faculty member in AIT, Thailand. He also taught graduate NRM courses in other reputed universities in south and south-east Asia as a visiting faculty. Intermittently, he has been working as a consultant (national and international). Some of his current or recent international assignments include (i) Judge, Adaptation at Scale Prize, IMC Worldwide Ltd., United Kingdom; (ii) Member, Regional Advisory Committee, Asia Pacific Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) Capacity Building Project on REDD+; (iii) Lead Author, Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) for the (a) Regional (Asia-Pacific) and (b) Global Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, and (c) Transformative Change Assessment; (iv) International Forest and Biodiversity Specialist, FAO Afghanistan; (v) Terrestrial Biodiversity Expert (Protected Areas and Forestry), Preparation of Nepal’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP; 2024-2030), UNDP and Ministry of Forest and Environment (MOFE), Government of Nepal (GON); and (v) Technical Reviewer, IUCN World Conservation Congress, Hawaii 2016. Similarly, some of his recent assignments or projects in Nepal include: (i) Member, IPBES National Expert Team; (ii) Member, REDD Working Group, MOFE, GON; (iii) National Consultant, Designing of Project Document for Facilitating the Pursuit of Sustainable Development Goals in Nepal, UNDP (iv) Team Leader, Development of NBSAP (2014-2020) and the Fifth National Report to CBD funded by GEF/UNEP and implemented by Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation, GON; (v) Theme Leader, Nature Conservation National Strategic Framework for Sustainable Development for the National Planning Commission and IUCN Nepal; (vi) Team Leader, Rapid Assessment of Chitwan-Annapurna Landscape in Central Nepal for USAID-funded Hariyo Ban Program implemented by WWF Nepal; and (vii) Consultant, National Capacity Self-Assessment (biodiversity and cross-cutting themes) for UNDP and the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology, Government of Nepal (GEF-funded). Earlier, he spent several years with the Government of Nepal as a district level forest manager. He has also worked as the Principal Investigator in a Ford Foundation-funded research project and organized and chaired a panel in an international conference in Bali, Indonesia. Dr. Gautam has published around 65 articles in refereed international journals, book, an encyclopedia, and proceedings of international conferences and served as a member or chair of seven doctoral and more than 50 masters’ theses research advisory committees in different universities in Thailand, Nepal and India. Since 2004, he is acting as a peer reviewer for around 35 international scientific journals published by reputed international publishers, including Elsevier, Springer, and Taylor & Francis, and has been serving as external examiner of doctoral and Masters theses. He is a member of several NRM-related international professional organizations and networks, including the IUCN CEESP, and International Association for the Study of Commons (IASC).