"Mainly based on my D. Phil. thesis submitted to the University of Allahabad in 1956." / Bibliography: p. [133]-138.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [405]-417).

University, Diss., 2000--Osnabrück.

This thesis seeks to understand the coexistence that occurs between people and snow leopards on the roof of the world. Within a political ecology framework, it aims to show how various social and economic factors can influence this coexistence and promote the conservation of Himalayan species and ecosystems. In particular, the thesis addresses the twin assumptions that access to assets, via more diverse livelihoods, and access to influence, via decentralised conservation governance, will improve coexistence. The study opens with an assessment of household livelihoods and then compares them between two iconic but contrasting Protected Areas. The thesis then assesses: (i) knowledge of and attitudes to snow leopards; (ii) attitudes to their conservation; (iii) household livestock losses to snow leopards; and (iv) conflicts between people and snow leopard conservation. Additionally, perceptions of several proposed mitigation methods are also examined. The political ecology framework employs access theory, the Sustainable Livelihoods model and a mixed-methods approach. Using systematic sampling, a quantitative questionnaire was administered to 705 households at two sites in the Nepal Himalayas: Sagarmatha National Park, with a centralised governance model, and Annapurna Conservation Area, with a decentralised one. Seventy qualitative interviews were also collected for cross-methods triangulation. Multiple and logistic regression models were the main form of statistical analyses. Access to tourism income, and larger household size, best explained livelihoods scores. Attitudes to snow leopards were best explained by attitudes to their conservation and numbers of livestock owned per household. Attitudes to snow leopard conservation depended on perceptions of snow leopards and household livelihoods. Perceptions of conflict with snow leopards and their conservation was related to the number of livestock lost by any source of mortality. A number of variables explained attitudes to the proposed mitigation measures, including gender, livelihood strategies, livestock numbers and support for snow leopard conservation. In conclusion, access to assets and access to influence do shape human coexistence with snow leopards and their conservation, albeit in more nuanced ways than anticipated.

Precipitation estimates from the satellite-based Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) instrumentation play a key role in flood analysis and water resource management across many regions of the world where rain gauge data are sparsely available. Previous studies have produced conflicting results regarding the accuracy of satellite-derived precipitation products, and several authors have called for further examination of their utility, specifically across the Himalaya Mountains region of southern Asia. In this study, daily precipitation estimates generated by TRMM were compared to daily precipitation measurements from a rain gauge network across the country of Nepal. TRMM data were statistically analyzed to quantify their representation of the gauge data during the four precipitation-defined seasons of Nepal. A detailed case study was assembled for the TRMM grid cell characterized by the greatest precipitation gauge density to develop a deeper understanding of local precipitation variability that the coarse resolution TRMM product cannot capture. The results illustrate that TRMM performs relatively well across all seasons, though the performance of TRMM during frozen precipitation events is not clear. In general, TRMM underestimates daily precipitation during the monsoon and pre-monsoon seasons, and overestimates during the winter and post-monsoon season. The case study analysis revealed a threshold for TRMM bias of 10-20mm of daily precipitation, overestimating lighter precipitation events while underestimating heavier precipitation events. Still, TRMM data compare favorably to gauge data, which contributes to the confidence with which they and other satellite-derived data products are used. / Master of Science

Most valued literature on the Nepali built environment draws our attention to the easily definable extremes of vernacular buildings and architecture. These categories are considered pure and exclusive: architecture is considered modern, designed and executed by professionals. Vernacular buildings are built by ordinary people without the help of formal experts such as architects. Vernacular strictly belongs to the place, to its past and untouched by foreign influences, while modern architecture can help transform traditional societies into modern societies that resemble the advanced-west. While these concepts may hold true at the extremes –or in regard to their core values-- most of the built environment belongs to the “gray” area or the liminal space in-between these, and are hybrids with multiple influences. This thesis concerns the production of spaces and building practices by ordinary people, particularly in rural Nepal who are increasingly influenced by western and other modernity. This thesis is an investigation into this ordinary architecture, the “in-between.” It asks what people build, how they build and why? The study, which follows these broad questions, is an inquiry into the lives of the ordinary people in a rural setting and it investigates the nature of ordinary building practices. It attempts to understand how people and their lives connect to the built environment and how the local is connected to the global and other places outside local and national boundaries. / Department of Architecture

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Design / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Politics and Public Administration / Master / Master of Philosophy

No description available.

Nepalese architectural craft production still relies on traditional hand tools and an ancient process, despite the intense labor and time requirements to produce traditional craft. This thesis examines the underlying issues inherent in the making of traditional crafts, and proposes an integration of modern digital fabrication tools and production processes that support a fast, economical process from design to production and integrating contemporary digital practices in the creation of ornamentation and carvings. / Department of Architecture