About

Milan Shrestha is a broadly trained environmental anthropologist and sustainability scientist. His expertise spans land-agriculture-food systems, geospatial analysis, and international development. Currently, he holds the position of Full Teaching Professor at Arizona State University' School of Sustainability and serves as a Senior Global Futures Scientist at the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory . 

Research Focus: 

• Milan investigates how shared cultural knowledge and rules influence people’s perception and decision-making related to their farming-based livelihood, land use, disaster risk, common pool resources, and sustainability. 

• He has conducted extensive fieldwork in the Himalaya, particularly studying how people perceive, experience, interpret, and respond to disaster risks, including glacial lake outburst flooding (GLOF). His research collaborates with geoscientists and engineers in an NSF-funded multidisciplinary research grant on GLOF disaster risk reduction and mitigation. 

• Milan’s focus within this research project lies in the socio-cryosphere system of GLOFs, examining historical context, institutional dynamics, cultural relevance, vulnerability, and social adaptation in the region. 

Long-term Interests: 

• Beyond GLOFs in the Himalayas, Milan explores the intersectionality among culture, disaster risks, and Earth systems. He investigates how socio-cultural and institutional factors either enable or hinder appropriate responses to hazards and disasters. 

• He is keen on interdisciplinary approaches that combine socio-economic and cultural data with geospatial analysis and visualization techniques. This helps reveal complex patterns of environmental change, such as deforestation, land cover change, landscape fragmentation, and urban growth. 

Publications and Professional Involvement: 

• Milan’s work has been published in interdisciplinary journals, including Applied Geography, Global Environmental Research, International Journal of the Commons, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Natural Hazards, the Professional Geographer, the HIMALAYA, Sustainability, and Urban Ecosystem. 

• He has also served on the executive board of professional organizations such as the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies (ANHS) and the Culture & Agriculture section of the American Anthropological Association. 

Beyond Academia: 

• As a serious hobbyist, Milan enjoys photography focused on nature and culture. 

• He is always fascinated by mountain communities and the unique desert landscapes of Arizona--two extreme environments, which often serve as subjects for both his research and hobbies.
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