School of Arts

Nawal Shrestha

Assistant Professor,

Department of Agriculture, School of Science

Libali 8, Bhaktapur

9841469128

nawal.shrestha@ku.edu.np

Bio

Research

Honors and Awards

Other Position

Publication

Biography

Nawal Shrestha holds a PhD in Botany from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. He began his academic career as a Postdoctoral Researcher at Peking University before becoming a Young Professor at Lanzhou University and a Research Associate at Harvard University, the world's most prestigious academic institution. Dr. Shrestha is currently an Assistant Professor at Kathmandu University. His prolific scholarly output comprises 65 published scientific papers in prestigious journals, including Nature Communications, New Phytologist, Ecology Letters, Current Biology and Global Ecology and Biogeography. Dr. Shrestha's impact extends to delivering more than 20 talks at national and international platforms, as well as supervising one PhD and four Master theses. Notably, he is the esteemed recipient of the Science Award 2079 from the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST). Beyond his research and teaching roles, Dr. Shrestha contributes to the scientific community as the editor of the Nepal Journal of Botany and holds active memberships in various global societies.

Honors and Awards

2023: Science Award 2079, Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), Khumaltar, Lalitpur, Nepal

2018: Excellent Oral Presentation Award of Young Scientist, International Conference on the Pharmacology of Traditional Medicine of the Belt and Road Initiatives, May 6-9, 2018, Beijing, China.

2016: Nepal Vidhya Bhusan Class “A”, Ministry of Education, Government of Nepal.

2012: Excellent Student, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.

2011: UCAS PhD Fellowship, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.

2009: Teacher of the Year, AlfaBeta Institute, Kathmandu, Nepal.

2002: NIIT Best Student of the Year, NIIT Biratnagar Centre, Nepal.

Research

Examination of large-scale patterns of species diversity, distribution, and ecological interactions.
Exploration of evolutionary processes that shape species diversity and adaptation.
Assessment of threats to biodiversity and identification of strategies for long-term species conservation.
Evaluation of the impact of climate variability and change on species distribution and survival.
Classification of species and elucidation of their evolutionary relationships for biodiversity assessment.

Other Position

2023-2024: Research Associate, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

2019-2023: Young Researcher (Professor), College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China

2015-2019: Postdoctoral Researcher, Institute of Ecology, Peking University, Beijing, China

Publication

Cheng R., Yi Y., Wang X., Liang X., Shrestha N., Dimitrov D., Wang Z., Zhao P. and Xu X. (2025). PyNCBIminer: A platform for assembling phylogenetic data sets via GenBank datamining. Journal of Systematics and Evolution doi:10.1111/jse.13155
Bugado R.E., Shrestha N., Magri R.A., Prado J. and Lopes J.C. (2025). Vanishing ecosystems: The looming threat of climate change on an iconic genus Vellozia in the Brazilian campos rupestres. Global Ecology and Conservation 58: e03439
Zu K., Chen F., Li Y., Shrestha N., Fang X., Ahmad S., Nabi G. and Wang Z. (2024). Climate change impacts flowering phenology in Gongga Mountains, Southwest China. Plant Diversity 46 (6): 774-782
Luo A., Li Y., Shrestha N., Xu X., Su X., Li Y., Lyu T., Waris K., Tang Z., Liu X., Lin L., Chen Y., Zu K., Song W., Peng S., Zimmermann N., Pellissier L. and Wang Z. (2024). Global multi-faceted biodiversity patterns, centers, and conservation needs in flowering plants. Science China Life Sciences 67: 817-828
Zu K., Shrestha N., Yong J., Jia G., Peng S., Zhu X. and Wang Z. (2024). Phylogenetic conservatism in threatened species responses to climate change differ between functional types in the Gongga Mountains of China. Journal of Mountain Science 20(12): 3568-3581
Yang Y., Bian Z., Ren W., Wu J., Liu J. and Shrestha N. (2023). Spatial patterns and hotspots of plant invasion in China. Global Ecology and Conservation 43: e02424
Meng J., Li Y., Feng Y., Hua F., Shen X., Li S., Shrestha N., Peng S., Rahbek C. and Wang Z (2023). Anthropogenic vulnerability assessment of global terrestrial protected areas with a new framework. Biological Conservation 283: 110064
Dewan K., Shrestha N., Sapkota R.P., Rai J., Lama S. and Shrestha B.B. (2023). Medicinal ethnobotany of the Yakkha community in Eastern Nepal. Ethnobotany Research and Applications 26: 1-34
Dimitrov D., Xu X., Su X., Shrestha N., Liu Y. Kennedy J.D., Lyu L., Nogues-Bravo D., Rosindell J., Yang Y., Fjeldsa J., Liu J., Schmid B., Fang J., Rahbek C. and Wang Z. (2023). Diversification of flowering plants in space and time. Nature Communications 14: 7609
Peng S., Shrestha N., Luo Y., Li Y., Cai H., Qin H., Ma K. and Wang Z. (2023). Incorporating global change reveals extinction risk beyond the current Red List. Current Biology 33 (17): 3669-3678
Akram M.A., Wang X., Shrestha N., Zhang Y., Sun Y., Yao S., Li J., Hou Q., Hu W., Ran J. and Deng J. (2023). Variations and driving factors of leaf functional traits in the dominant desert plant species along an environmental gradient in the drylands of China. Science of the Total Environment 897: 165394
Liu Y., Xu X., Dimitrov D., Pellissier L., Borregaard M.K., Shrestha N., Su X., Luo A., Zimmermann N.E., Rahbek C. and Wang Z. (2023). An updated floristic map of the world. Nature Communications 14: 2990
Koju L., Shrestha N., Raskoti B.B., Ale R., Ghimire N. and Shrestha S. (2023). Spatial patterns, underlying drivers and conservation priorities of orchids in the central Himalaya. Biological Conservation 283: 110121
Yang Y., Bian Z., Ren G., Liu J. and Shrestha N. (2022). Niche conservatism limits the distribution of Medicago in the tropics. Ecography 2022 (9): e06085
Huang M., Sang C., Zhao J., Degen A.A., Chen X., Zhang T., Bai Y., Li S., Wang W., Shrestha N. and Shang Z. (2022). Grazing exclusion altered the pattern of the soil seed bank but not the above-ground vegetation along an altitudinal gradient in the alpine grassland. Land Degradation and Development 33 (18): 3901-3913
Liu N., Hu H., Ma W., Deng Y., Dimitrov D., Wang Q., Shrestha N., Su X., Feng K., Liu Y., Hao B., Zhang X., Feng X. and Wang Z. (2022). Relationships between soil microbial diversities across an aridity gradient in temperate grasslands. Microbial Ecology 85: 1013-1027
Li A., Liu A., Wu S., Qu K., Hu H., Yang J., Shrestha N., Liu J. and Ren G. (2022). Comparison of structural variants in the whole genome sequences of two Medicago truncatula ecotypes: Jemalong A17 and R108. BMC Plant Biology 22: 77
Ma Y., Mao X., Wang J., Zhang L., Jiang Y., Geng Y., Ma T., Cai L., Huang S., Hollingsworth P., Mao K., Kang M., Li Y., Yang W., Wu H., Chen Y., Davis C.C., Shrestha N., Ree R.H., Xi Z., Hu Q., Milne R.I. and Liu J. (2022). Pervasive hybridization during evolutionary radiation of Rhododendron subgenus Hymenanthes in mountains of southwest China. National Science Review 9 (12): nwac276
Zhang H., Du X., Dong C., Zheng Z., Mu W., Zhu M., Yang Y., Li X., Hu H., Shrestha N., Li M., and Yang Y. (2022). Genomes and demographic histories of the endangered Bretschneidera sinensis (Akaniaceae). GigaScience 11: giac050
Akram M.A., Zhang Y., Wang X., Shrestha N., Malik K., Khan I., Ma W., Sun Y., Li F., Guo A., Ran J. and Deng J. (2022). Phylogenetic independence in the variations in leaf functional traits among different plant life forms in an arid environment. Journal of Plant Physiology 272: 153671
Wu S., Wang Y., Wang Z., Shrestha N. and Liu J. (2022). Species divergence with gene flow and hybrid speciation on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. New Phytologist 234 (2): 392-404
Zu K., Wang Z.*, Zhu X., Lenoir J., Shrestha N., Lyu T., Luo A., Li Y., Ji C., Peng S., Meng J. and Zhou J. (2021). Upward shift and elevational range contractions of subtropical mountain plants in response to climate change. Science of the Total Environment 783: 146896
Zheng Z., Li Y., Li M., Li G., Du X., Hongyin H., Yin M., Lu Z., Zhang X., Shrestha N., Liu J. and Yang Y. (2021). Whole-Genome diversification analysis of the hornbeam species reveals speciation and adaptation among closely related species. Frontiers in Plant Science 12: 581704
Mao X., Wang J., Shrestha N., Ma Y. and Liu J. (2021). Species identification in the Rhododendron vernicosum - R. decorum species complex (Ericaceae). Frontiers in Plant Science 12: 608964
Shrestha N., Xu X., Meng J. and Wang Z. (2021). Vulnerabilities of protected lands in the face of climate and human footprint changes. Nature Communications 12: 1632
Ma J., Sun P., Wang D., Wang Z., Yang J., Li Y., Mu W., Xu R., Wu Y., Dong C., Shrestha N., Liu J. and Yang Y. (2021). The Chloranthus sessilifolius genome provides insight into early diversification of angiosperms. Nature Communications 12: 6929
Wang Q., Li Y., Zou D., Su X., Cai H., Luo A., Jiang K., Zhang X., Xu X., Shrestha N. and Wang Z. (2021). Phylogenetic niche conservatism and variations in species diversity-climate relationships. Ecography 44 (12): 1856-1868
Wu S., Chen J., Li Y., Liu A., Li A., Yin M., Shrestha N., Liu J. and Ren G. (2021). Extensive genomic rearrangements mediated by repetitive sequences in plastomes of Medicago and its relatives. BMC Plant Biology 21: 421
Liu L., Xu X., Zhang L., Li Y., Shrestha N., Neves D.M., Wang Q., Chang H., Su X., Liu Y., Wu J., Dimitrov D., Wang Z. and Liu J. (2021). Global patterns of species richness of the holarctic alpine herb Saxifraga: The role of temperature and habitat heterogeneity. Journal of Plant Ecology 15 (2): 237-252
Chen J., Wu G., Shrestha N., Wu S., Guo W., Yin M., Li A., Liu J. and Ren G. (2021). Phylogeny and species delimitation of Chinese Medicago (Leguminosae) and its relatives based on molecular and morphological evidence. Frontiers in Plant Science 11: 619799
Li M., Yang Y., Xu R., Mu W., Li Y., Mao X., Zheng Z., Bi H., Hao G., Li X., Xu X., Xi Z., Shrestha N. and Liu J. (2021). A chromosome-level genome assembly for the Tertiary relict plant Tetracentron sinense Oliv. (Trochodendraceae). Molecular Ecology Resources 21 (4): 1186-1199
Shrestha N., Tiwari A. and Paudel P.K. (2021). Assessing conservation priorities of endemic seed plants in the central Himalaya (Nepal): A complementarity and phylogenetic diversity approach. Biological Conservation 261: 109274