Strangers have mistaken me for a foreigner while at home in Kathmandu and Zurich, and for a local while abroad in Rome, New York, Mexico City and Santiago. With parents from two countries, a spouse from a third, and children born in a fourth, I have come to feel very much at home at airports and looking out the airplane window, appreciating the beauty of our planet, and the fact that we see the same sun and moon from everywhere.
I have been fortunate to spend my childhood alternating between remote mountain villages in Nepal and my relatives’ homes in Switzerland, growing up to be equally at ease chasing goats and riding escalators, equally at home in smoke filled Himalayan kitchens and riding my uncle’s BMW in Basel.
At age 18 I crossed the Atlantic for the first time to join Harvard for my Bachelors. For the next 19 years I was based at US universities, going through a masters, a doctorate, two postdocs and a faculty position. However, right from the start it was clear to me that I would never settle there, and I took every opportunity to return to Nepal for research and breaks. As a doctoral student in the early 2000s I daydreamed of one day setting up an international university in Nepal, but had to put those plans on hold as Nepal went through painful internal disputes. In 2012 I joined ICIMOD Headquarters in Kathmandu to help set up new work on atmospheric issues across the Hindukush Himalaya. In 2018 I was invited on the Board of Trustees of Ullens Education Foundation (UEF), which was planning to set up a new college in Nepal. From February 2020 onwards I spent two years as the CEO of UEF, advancing plans for the college while leading the foundation through the Covid crisis.
I enjoy photography, hiking, mountain biking, driving curvy mountain roads, exploring new places, gardening, and playing with my kids.
Strangers have mistaken me for a foreigner while at home in Kathmandu and Zürich, and for a local while abroad in Rome, New York, Mexico City and Santiago. With parents from two countries, a spouse from a third, and children born in a fourth, I have come to feel very much at home at airports and looking out the airplane window, appreciating the beauty of our planet, and the fact that we see the same sun and moon from everywhere.
I have been fortunate to spend my childhood alternating between remote mountain villages in Nepal and my relatives’ homes in Switzerland, growing up to be equally at ease chasing goats and riding escalators, equally at home in smoke filled Himalayan kitchens and riding my uncle’s BMW in Basel.
At age 18 I crossed the Atlantic for the first time to join Harvard for my Bachelors. For the next 19 years I was based at US universities, continuing through a masters, a doctorate, two postdocs and a faculty position. I took every opportunity to return to Nepal for research and breaks. As a doctoral student in the early 2000s I daydreamed of one day setting up an international university in Nepal, but had to put those plans on hold as Nepal went through painful internal disputes.
In 2012 I joined ICIMOD Headquarters in Kathmandu to help set up new work on atmospheric issues across the Hindukush Himalaya. In 2018 I was invited on the Board of Trustees of Ullens Education Foundation (UEF), which was planning to set up a new college in Nepal. From February 2020 onwards I spent two years as the CEO of UEF, advancing plans for the college while leading the foundation through the Covid crisis.
I spent 2022 and 2023 exploring new opportunities, doing part-time consulting (including registering my firm, Arnico Panday Consulting Pvt. Ltd), and getting increasingly involved in politics. I initially set out to run for Nepal’s Federal Parliament as an independent candidate from Lalitpur-3. Although Covid-19 prevented me from campaigning, I was able to join the new Rashtriya Swatantra Party‘s Central Committee and chair the drafting of the party’s manifesto and later on the party’s development planning department.
In March 2024 I resigned from all other obligations to focus on my new role as a member of the Government of Nepal’s National Planning Commission, where I responsible for the following sectors: Forest, environment, disaster risk reduction, climate change, climate finance, civil aviation, tourism, culture, SDG 13 and 15, and coordination for Gandaki Province.
I enjoy photography, hiking, mountain biking, driving curvy mountain roads, exploring new places, gardening, and playing with my kids. I am passionate about mountains, clean air, stopping climate change, sustainable design, travel, as well as promoting global peace and intercultural understanding. I believe in dreaming, in letting the mind wander freely to imagine the future, and I enjoy developing plans to turn some of those dreams into reality.
