HAZARD RISK ASSESSMENT UNDER CLIMATE CHANGE
Climate science, Paleoclimate and Natural Hazards
I am a (paleo)climate scientist by training. I have recently (July 2022) joined CoreLogic as a climate change scientist. With this new position, I am very excited in learning and growing in the field of hazard risk assessment. I look forward to applying my climate expertise to help better assess risks from natural hazards in the context of climate change.
My masters, doctoral research and postdoctoral trainings were focused on understanding long-term changes in climate, forest growth, and atmospheric circulation. In my postdoctoral research, I used climate model simulations to examine the forced trend in the latitudinal position of the subtropical jet over the Himalayas (Himalayan jet) over the past millennium. I also investigated the interannual variability of the Himalayan jet in response to internal (ENSO) and external (volcanic eruptions) forcings. In my doctorate research, I used information preserved in the growth layers of trees (the science of dendrochronology) to examine impacts of climate and human use practices on forest health. I also used tree rings to produce multi-century records of jet stream position, temperature, hydroclimate and drought. My research were motivated to provide multi-century context to the recent changes and examine natural variability in the climate system, which helps better predict future changes and inform resource management decisions in the face of human-caused global warming.
I was born in the middle mountains of Nepal. I grew up in a village near a small town called Bhairahawa (22 Km east from Lumbini, the birth place of Gautam Buddha) located in the lowlands of central Nepal. After completing my high school, I moved to Kathmandu where I completed my B. Sc. (2009) and M. Sc. (2013) degrees in Environmental Science from the Tribhuvan University affiliate colleges. In 2014, I joined the University of Minnesota in United States for my doctorate degree in Geography, which I earned in summer 2020. During July 2020-July 2022, I was a NOAA Climate and Global Change Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California Santa Barbra. Now, I look forward to exploring hazards in private sector.
Away from the office, I enjoy spending time with my two kids (4 and 1 yo), playing sports (cricket, soccer, volleyball, bowling), hiking, watching movies and reading books.
EXPERIENCE
CoreLogic - Oakland, California
Sr. Professional, Science and Analytics-Climate Change Scientist, July 2022-present
University of California Santa Barbara and The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) - Santa Barbara, California
NOAA Climate and Global Change Postdoctoral Fellow, July 2020-July 2022
University of Minnesota - Minneapolis, Minnesota
Graduate fellow / research and teaching assistant / instructor, August 2014-July 2020
Resources Himalaya Foundation - Kathmandu, Nepal
Research Associate, April 2014-December 2014
Department of Forest Research and Survey, Government of Nepal - Kathmandu, Nepal
Research Intern, October 2013- January 2014
GoldenGate International College - Kathmandu, Nepal
Teaching faculty, October 2013- August 2014
Rapti Renewable Energy Pvt. Ltd. - Kathmandu, Nepal
Energy and Environment Officer, August 2012-May 2013
EDUCATION
University of Minnesota - Minneapolis, Minnesota
Ph.D. in Physical Geography, 2020
Paleoclimate and dendrochronology, atmospheric circulation, forest-climate human interactions
GoldenGate International College, Tribhuvan University -Kathmandu, Nepal
M.Sc. in Environmental Science, 2013
Paleoclimate and dendrochronology
College of Applied Sciences, Tribhuvan University -Kathmandu, Nepal
B.Sc. in Environmental Science, 2009
UK Thapa and S Stevenson (In preparation)
UK Thapa, S Stevenson and M Midhun. Geophysical Research Letters (2020) [DOI]
Farid Seyfullayev, Scott St. George, Vahid Farzaliyev, Sébastien Guillet, Markus Stoffel, Uday Kunwar Thapa. Tree-Ring Research (2021) [DOI]
UK Thapa, SSt. George, V Trouet. Geophysical Research Letters (2020) [DOI]
Tree-ring record of winter temperature from Humla, Karnali, in central Himalaya: a 229 years- long perspective for recent warming trend
NP Gaire, ZX Fan, SK Shah, UK Thapa & MB Rokaya. Geografiska Annaler: Series A, Physical Geography (2020) [DOI]
A 307-year SPEI tree-ring reconstruction in western Nepal Himalaya from Tsuga dumosa showing modern drought
S Bhandari, NP Gaire, SK Shah, JS Speer, D Bhuju, UK Thapa . Tree-Ring Research (2019), 75: 73-85. [DOI]
UK Thapa, SSt George. Forest Ecology and Management (2019), 440: 12-22. [DOI]
NP Gaire, YR Dhakal, SK Shah, Z Fan, A Bräuning, UK Thapa, S Bhandari, S Aryal, DR Bhujuj. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology (2019), 514: 251-264. [DOI]
Tree growth across the Nepal Himalaya during the last four centuries
DK Kharal, UK Thapa, SSt George, et al. Dendrochronologia (2017), 41: 57-64. [DOI]
Spring temperatures in the far‐western Nepal Himalaya since AD 1640 reconstructed from Picea smithiana tree‐ring widths
UK Thapa, SK Shah, NP Gaire, DR Bhuju. Climate Dynamics (2015) [DOI]
DK Kharal, H Meilby, S Rayamajhi, DR Bhuju, UK Thapa. Banko Janakari (2014), 24(1): 3-13 [PDF]
UK Thapa, SK Shah, NP Gaire, DR Bhuju, A Bhattacharya, GS Thagunna. Banko Janakari (2013), 23 (2): 14-19 [PDF]