Tashi Delek!

I am a Sharwa anthropologist from Pharak, southern part of Mt. Everest region in northeastern Nepal. I examine human dimension of climate change in the high Himalaya from an Indigenous perspective. My research, writing, and pedagogy are guided by the question: How do we live in the midst of dying?

My current research applies community-based approach to exploring the possibilities of collective survival on warming planet. It builds on my nearly two decades of climate change study in the Himalayas and long-term ethnographic study of the Sherpa community at home in the mountains and in the diaspora.

I use ethnographic methods to study everyday concerns of Himalayan people in order to normalize our experiences and represent us as equal partners in decision-making spaces. I use multidisciplinary approach in my research projects, and consider plural epistemologies as a necessity, not a choice, in addressing contemporary human problems.

Some of the socio-economic and environmental forces that shape our everyday concerns include mountaineering, conservation and development, climate change, migration, and transnationalism. These topics are interrelated and inform us about the everyday concerns of mountain people from the Himalayas.

I believe that our sustainability as a Sherpa people in the wake of climate change depends on keeping our songs and stories about people, places and things alive for the next generation.

Courses taught at UBC:

Go Global Nepal

Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change

Indigenous Environmentalism in Asia and Beyond

Biocultural Diversity: Language, Environment and Community

Recent Publications

For a complete list of my publication, please visit: www.pasangysherpa.com

Sherpa (Sherpa), P. Y. (2025). Relevance of the Sixth IPCC Assessment Report to Indigenous lived realities. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/11771801251362621

Stein, S., Ahenakew, C., Valley, W., Sherpa, P. Y., Crowson, E., Robin, T., … & Evans, S. (2024). Toward more ethical engagements between Western and Indigenous sciences. FACETS, 9, 1-14.

Sherpa, P. Y. (2024). Climate Change in Nepal through an Indigenous Environmental Justice Lens. In Environmental Justice in Nepal (pp. 217-224). Routledge.

Sherpa, P. Y., Chakraborty, R., & Carrara, A. (2024). Indigeneity. Introducing Human Geographies, Routledge. 129.