Staff

SANDEE activities are coordinated by a core team in Kathmandu, Nepal, but with support from members in different parts of the globe.

Mani Nepal

Mani Nepal is SANDEE Program Coordinator and Lead Economist at ICIMOD. He coordinates SANDEE research activities and trainings, leads grant making process, provides technical support and mentoring to the researchers, and edits SANDEE-ICIMOD Working Paper Series. Earlier, he worked as Research Program Manager and Senior Environmental Economist at SANEEE, Associate Professor of Economics at Tribhuvan University, Assistant Professor at the University of New Mexico, Visiting Professor at Kathmandu University, and Adjunct Professor at Agriculture and Forestry University. He also held Senior Economist position at the Department of Finance and Administration, Santa Fe, New Mexico; and an Economist position at the Nepal Foundation for Advanced Studies, and Agricultural Projects Service Center. He is an applied economist with the research interest in the intersection of development and environmental issues including non-market valuation, climate change economics, energy transition, program evaluation and social issues such as social network, poverty, inequality and violent conflict. Dr. Nepal has MS degree in Policy Economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and PhD from the University of New Mexico, USA, in Environmental/Development Economics and Applied Econometrics.

Neesha Pradhan

Neesha is a Progam Associate at SANDEE and manages its grant activity. Before joining SANDEE, she was working in the CIDA funded Micronutrient Initiative for more than five years. She was involved in grant management and project administration during her tenure at the Micronutrient Initiative. She has a Masters Degree in development communication from the College of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Rajesh Rai

Rajesh is an Environmental Economist and holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Economics from Deakin University, Australia. His research covers a variety of issues related to forests, biodiversity and watershed management. He has several publications on economic aspects of natural resource management in journals including Environment and Development Economics, Journal for Nature Conservation, and Mountain Research and Development. He has also worked as a Program Officer for the Natural Resource Management Sector Assistance Program supported by DANIDA and the SNV funded Biodiversity Sector Program for Siwaliks and Terai. Rajesh has also served as a Research Assistant, Monash University, Australia and an Intern in the Swedish Forest Agency, Jonkoping, Sweden. His main research interest is in non-market valuation (particularly choice experiments), ecosystem services, poverty-environment nexus, invasive plant species and sustainable forest management.