BUILDING SCIENCE – CHASING CORONA VIRUS: First e-conference of Young Scientist Nepal
- By : resourceshimalaya.org
- May 22, 2020
The first e-conference of Young Scientist Nepal was held on May 21, 2020 with the theme “Building Science Chasing Coronavirus”. The 3-hour conference was accommodated by near about 300 participants, both national and international.
The conference comprised of four sessions; opening session, progress session, technical session and way-forward session. The opening session was facilitated by Dr Dinesh Raj Bhuju- General Secretary of Resources Himalaya Foundation (RHF) and chaired by Dr Dinesh Neupane- Program Director of RHF and Coordinator of Young Scientist Nepal. Dr Neupane welcomed the participants and guests. Guest Prof. Dr Ram Kanth Makaju Shrestha- Vice chancellor of Kathmandu University, encouraged the participants to keep up knowledge and wisdom sharing. The inspiring remarks were given by Dr Sanjay Sharma- Secretary of Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, and Er Ganesh Shah- former Minister for Science and Technology. Prof. Ram Chhetri- Chair of RHF shared his vote of thanks to the speakers and participants. At the end, session chair adjourned the opening session.
The progress session was chaired by Prof. Dr Kedar Rijal from Tribhuvan University, Co-chaired by Dr. Meena Bohora from University of Chinese Academy of Science and facilitated by Ms Patanjali Yonzon Shrestha. It was wonderful and encouraging to hear from coordinators/associate coordinators of all 7 provinces. The presenters talked on the progress of their respective teams in creating awareness on COVID-19 and their effort in combating COVID-19. It was great to hear about the impactful work that was done in creating awareness of social distancing, sharing authentic and scientific information, fighting against fake news/messages, sharing home based sanitizer and mask preparation techniques and also working on psychological first aid.
The technical session was facilitated by Dr Nawa Raj Khatiwada, President of Nepal Development Research Institute (NDRI) and chaired by Mr Kanchan Mani Dixit, Executive Director of Institute for Social and Environmental Transition-Nepal (ISET-Nepal). In the technical session, we had five research-based presentations by presenters from Environmental Graduates in Himalaya (EGH), RHF, The Small Earth Nepal, and ISET-Nepal, and NDRI. These presentations covered different topics, all based on the initiatives, actions and research works of different institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic, and shortly discussed on the queries of few national and international participants.
The final session was the way-forward session, chaired by Dr Dinesh Raj Bhuju, General Secretary of RHF and also Academician of NAST, co-chaired by Mr Nashir Mulla from Science Teachers Association Nepal and facilitated by Ms Sarita Chaulagain. In the fourth session, Mr Mulla presented his insightful remarks and Dr Bhuju shared the way-forward actions for Young Scientist Nepal while urging the volunteers to keep up the good work.
We would like to thank all the guests, session chairs/co-chairs, scientists, researchers, academicians, and young scientists for their kind cooperation and valuable participation. We believe that this e-conference has motivated the young scientists throughout the nation and keep up the volunteering spirit alive. Let us build science and combat COVID-19 pandemic together!
Presenter’s Introduction and Affiliation
| S.No. | Name of Presenter | Affiliation |
| Technical Session Presenter
|
||
| 1 | Ms Juna Rai | Former, EGH Coordinator |
| 2 | Mr Piyush Dahal |
Assistant Research Director, The Small Earth Nepal
|
| 3 | Mr Anurag Pokharel |
Research Consultant, Institute for Social and Environmental Transition-Nepal (ISET- Nepal)
|
| 4 | Ms Rojina Shrestha | Executive Assistant, Nepal Development Research Institute |
| 5 | Mr Purna Man Shrestha | Project Manager, Resources Himalaya Foundation |
|
Progress Session Presenter |
||
| 1 | Mr Nabin Basnet
|
Coordinator, Combat COVID-19 Young Scientists, Province 1
|
| 2 | Mr Aayush Shrestha
|
Coordinator, Combat COVID-19 Young Scientists, Province 2
|
| 3 | Mr Saugat Bolakhe
|
Associate Coordinator, Combat COVID-19 Young Scientists, Province 3
|
| 4 | Ms Asmita KC |
Coordinator, Combat COVID-19 Young Scientists, Province 4
|
| 5 | Mr Bishwa Bandhu Acharya
|
Coordinator, Combat COVID-19 Young Scientists, Province 5
|
| 6 | Ms Rita Thapa
|
Coordinator, Combat COVID-19 Young Scientists, Province 6
|
| 7 | Mr Yogesh Joshi
|
Coordinator, Combat COVID-19 Young Scientists, Province 7
|
