Consultancy
Advisory & technical services
Since 2009 Dr. Sharma has worked at the science–policy interface in Sikkim and the Eastern Himalaya, providing scientific consultancy, technical advice, policy recommendations and programme-formulation support to state and national government institutions and to international development agencies. The work spans biodiversity conservation and governance, agroforestry, forest and wildlife management, climate adaptation, ecosystem services, natural-resource governance, traditional ecological knowledge and sustainable mountain development. Its method is consistent: translating field research, long-term landscape observation and socio-ecological evidence into inputs for planning, programme design, regulatory appraisal, resource allocation and policy formulation.
Thirty-two years of applied work for state governments, international agencies, foundations and NGOs — 25 projects delivered as Principal Investigator, from village-scale documentation to multi-year watershed and biodiversity programmes for NABARD, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the MacArthur Foundation and ICIMOD — and a sustained research-to-policy pathway: statutory boards, technical support groups, appraisal committees, steering committees, and national assignments taken at the formulation stage, when the technical architecture of a programme is still open. Dr. Sharma is available for scientific and technical consultancy. Advisory work often begins with a lecture or a seminar.
Appointments
The consultancies span a state Chief Minister’s Office, a national statutory authority, a bilateral development agency, an intergovernmental mountain centre and a central ministry — and the most consequential were taken at the point where a project’s design was still open. For the National Biodiversity Authority and for JICA he worked through the formulation phase of two 2009 projects, when the technical architecture and implementation strategy of each was still being set. For ICIMOD he served as cardamom expert under HIMALICA; for the Chief Minister’s Office he advised the head of the state government directly on matters requiring ecological and environmental expertise; and for the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training, under the Ministry of Culture, he is a teaching resource person for teachers’ training.
- Scientific Consultant, Chief Minister’s Office, Government of Sikkim — November 2018 to April 2019
- International Consultant, Cardamom Expert, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Kathmandu, under the HIMALICA programme — September to November 2015
- National Consultant (Biodiversity), National Biodiversity Authority, Government of India — GEF-ABS project Strengthening the implementation of the Biological Diversity Act and Rules, with focus on its ABS provisions, September to October 2009, project formulation phase
- National Consultant (Biodiversity), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) / JPS Associates, New Delhi — Sikkim Biodiversity and Forestry Management Project, June to August 2009, project formulation phase
- Teaching Resource Person, teachers’ training, Centre for Cultural Resources and Training, Ministry of Culture, Government of India
State committees and policy input
Dr. Sharma has served on ten committees of the Government of Sikkim, past and present. The role is consistent across all of them: bringing field evidence into state-level planning and decision-making meetings, where policy is actually settled.
On biodiversity, he is a member of the Sikkim State Biodiversity Board, of its Technical Support Group, and of its State Traditional Knowledge Committee for access and benefit sharing — between them, the bodies through which India’s Biological Diversity Act is implemented in the state, from constituting village committees to deciding how benefits from genetic resources are shared.
On forests and wildlife, he sits on the Sikkim State Wildlife Board and on the State Steering Committee of the Compensatory Afforestation Management and Planning Authority, which directs how afforestation funds are spent. On environmental regulation, he is a member of the State Level Environment Clearance Appraisal Committee, which appraises development proposals before they proceed.
On climate and long-term planning, he is in the Working Group for Sikkim’s State Level Action Plan on Climate Change, on the State Steering Committee for Vision 2047 under Viksit Bharat@2047, and on the State Level Sikkim Innovation Council. He is also a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Sikkim State Council of Science and Technology.
Selected clients and funders
| Organisation | Engagement |
|---|---|
| NABARD | Springshed watershed development, Bagey and Khani-Khola (2021–2025); Dhara Vikas evaluation, South Sikkim |
| MacArthur Foundation | Countries, Communities and Conservation: Khangchendzonga, Phases I–III |
| Arghyam | Safe domestic water through sustainable spring development, East and South Sikkim |
| MoEFCC / National Mission on Himalayan Studies | Sustainable use of Sikkim Himalayan biodiversity; spring rejuvenation |
| ICIMOD | HIMALICA cardamom expert; agrobiodiversity; local governance; ABS capacity building |
| JICA / Government of Sikkim | Sikkim Biodiversity & Forestry Management Project; grazing ban impact assessment |
| National Biodiversity Authority | GEF-ABS project formulation, National Consultant |
| Sikkim Biodiversity Board | People’s Biodiversity Registers across 20 Gram Panchayat Units (2023–2026) |
| TERI, CEDAR, SaciWATERs, ATREE/CEPF, DBT, SERB-DST | Climate resilience, snow leopard monitoring, bioresource databases, biodiversity in cultivated systems |
Projects delivered as Principal Investigator
Twenty-two funded projects, 2008 to 2027, for state and national government, UN-system and international agencies, foundations and research institutes.