Professional Experience
Lecturer in Hindi and Urdu, Language Program, Cowell College, University of California, Santa Cruz, California (2001-present).
Community Conservation Project Manager for the Wildlife Conservation Society's Afghanistan Biodiversity Conservation Project, Wakhan District, Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan (2006-present).
Consultant on tourism for the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) and Aga Khan Foundation-Afghanistan. Wakhan District, Badakhshan Afghanistan. (2005)
Consultant on wildlife conservation for the Snow Leopard Conservancy in northern Pakistan (2003-04).
Lecturer in Social Sciences, Merrill College Core Course, "Cultural Identities and Global Consciousness," University of California, Santa Cruz, California (Fall 2002, 2001).
Consultant on ecotourism for The World Conservation Union (IUCN) - Pakistan's Biodiversity Project (1995).
Graduate Student Instructor, "India in the Writer's Eye," Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley, California (1993).
Consultant and Guide for National Geographic in Hunza, northern Pakistan (1991).
Consultant on rural sociology for World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) International's project "Khunjerab National Park" in Pakistan and member of park management planning team (1990).
Director, Nepal Study Program and Core Faculty Member, World College West, Petaluma, California (1987-90). Responsibilities included:
- Curriculum Development - Designed a cohesive one-year Nepal study program over two academic quarters in Nepal and one academic quarter in California, including cross-cultural training, Nepal field courses, and re-entry program. Designed and implemented a 240-classroom hour Nepali language program, including proficiency testing.
- Course Instruction - Taught Introduction to History and Culture of Nepal; Intercultural Field Methods; Interdisciplinary Area Studies; Field Study of Local Communities; and Independent Project.
- Counseling - Arranged and supervised student home stays in Kathmandu and rural villages.
- Administration - Planned and administrated an annual budget of $115,000, supervised a staff of eight Nepalis, and negotiated a long-term agreement with Tribhuvan University of Nepal.
Instructor in South Asian Languages, Language Board, Cowell College, University of California, Santa Cruz, California. Taught first- and second-year Hindi, Urdu, and Nepali (1987).
Academic Tutor, Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley, California. Taught first-year Hindi and Urdu (1986).
Linguistic Specialist, University of California, Berkeley, California in Kathmandu, Nepal. Compiled Nepali-English dictionary A Practical Dictionary of Modern Nepali, ed. Ruth L. Schmidt, New Delhi, India: Ratna Sagar (1993) and supervised project office and staff of two (1985).
Group Leader and Academic Tutor, University of California Education Abroad Program in New Delhi, India. Counseled and advised sixteen University of California students. Taught first- and second-year Hindi and Urdu (1984-85).
Language Specialist, Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley, California. Prepared Hindi instructional tapes with Usha R. Jain, Hindi Instructor (1984).
Affiliations
- Trustee-at-Large, Board of Trustees, American Institute of Afghanistan Studies (2007-present).
- Council Member, Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies (2007-present).
- Member, American Institute of Afghanistan Studies (2005-present).
- Member, American Institute of Pakistan Studies.
- Member, Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies.
- Member, World Commission on Protected Areas of The World Conservation Union (IUCN), Gland, Switzerland.
- Research Fellow, Institute for International and Area Studies, and Visiting Scholar, Center for South Asia Studies, University of California, Berkeley, California.
Publications
Ph.D. Dissertation:
The Discursive Construction of Reality in the Wakhi Community of Northern Pakistan. University of California - Berkeley, 1998. AbstractBooks:
with Kimberley O'Neil. Hiking in the Sierra Nevada. Footscray, Australia: Lonely Planet Publications (1st ed. May 2002).Winner 2002 National Outdoor Book Award, Outdoor Adventure Guidebook Category
ISBN 1 74059 272 7
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ISBN 1 74059 086 4
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Sections in Books:
with Kimberley O'Neil. "Trekking in Northern Pakistan" in Pakistan & Karakoram Highway. Foootscray, Australia: Lonely Planet Publications (7th ed. forthcoming May 2008).ISBN 1741045428
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ISBN 978-1740596428
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ISBN 1741047846
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ISBN 0 86442 709 3
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ISBN 1 86450 319 X
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Travelex Travel Writers' Award - Finalist 2000 Guidebook of the Year
ISBN 0 086442 600 3
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ISBN 1 86450 062 X
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ISBN 0 86442 535 X
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ISBN 3-89645-154-5
"Dards, Dardistan, and Dardic: An Ethnographic, Geographic, and Linguistic Conundrum." In Northern Pakistan: Karakorum Conquered, ed. Nigel J.R. Allan. New York: St. Martin's Press (forthcoming).
ISBN 0 87156 662 1
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Journal Articles:
"Orality, Literacy and Scholarship: Shifts in Gender, Genre and Performance of Wakhi Oral Expression" in Asian Folklore Studies, (forthcoming 2005). Nagoya, Japan: Nanzan University."Karakoram Notes - Objects of Desire in the Northern Areas" in Himal, 8:2, Mar/Apr 1995. Lalitpur, Nepal: Himal Association.
"Along the KKH - Notes from the Karakoram" in Himal, 8:1, Jan/Feb 1995. Lalitpur, Nepal: Himal Association.
"Will it be Guns on Ice?" in Himal 12:5, Nov/Dec 1989. Lalitpur, Nepal: Himal Association.
Consultancy Reports:
with Kimberley O'Neil. Socioeconomic Survey & Range Use Survey of Wakhi Households Using the Afghan Pamir, Wakhan District, Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan; consultancy report for the Wildlife Conservation Society's Afghanistan Biodiversity Project. Kabul, Afghanistan, January 2007.with Kimberley O'Neil. Tourism Promotion in Wakhan District, Badakhshan, Afghanistan: consultancy report for the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) and Aga Khan Foundation-Afghanistan. Kabul, Afghanistan, November 2005.
with Kimberley O'Neil. Local People's Attitudes Towards Wildlife and Wildlife Depredation in Pakistan's Northern Areas: consultancy report for the Snow Leopard Conservancy. Islamabad, Pakistan, September 2003. Read about our role with Community-Based Snow Leopard Conservation in Pakistan's Northern Areas.
with Kimberley O'Neil. Survey on Ecotourism Potential in the Biodiversity Project Area: consultancy report for IUCN-The World Conservation Union - Pakistan. Islamabad, Pakistan, January 1996.
Conservation and Management of the Khunjerab National Park: field trip report and discussion paper for The Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) - International Project 3898. Geneva, Switzerland, January 1989.
Mimeographs:
Nepali Grammar for Travelers. Berkeley, California (1986).Conference Presentations:
"Inside Pakistan" presented at a symposium titled "The Current Crisis: Focus on South Asia," sponsored by the South Asian Studies Initiative, the Center for Global International & Regional Studies, and the Office of the Chancellor, University of California at Santa Cruz, November 8, 2001."Orality, Literacy and Scholarship: Shifts in Gender, Genre and Performance of Wakhi Oral Expression" presented at the 29th Annual Conference on South Asia held at the Center for South Asia, University of Wisconsin at Madison, October 12-15, 2000.
Ecotourism Potential in Pakistan's Northern Areas presented at the Convention on Sustainable Tourism in Pakistan's Northern Areas held at Gilgit and Hunza, Northern Areas, Pakistan on June 12-14, 1999.
Other:
with Kimberley O'Neil. Wakhan & the Afghan Pamir, a 16-page tourism brochure with descriptive text, route information and detailed two-page route map, for the Aga Khan Foundation-Afghanistan. Kabul, Afghanistan, June 2006. To view a preview, visit photographer Matthieu Paley's website; click on "Books", then on "Wakhan & the Afghan Pamir" (best viewed with Flash).