Professor of Botany, is the Former Head of the Central Department of Botany, Tribhuvan University. He had been involved in teaching and research on Plant Systematics, Biodiversity, and Ethnobotany since he obtained his M. Sc. (Botany) degree in 1978 from Tribhuvan University. He has obtained his Ph.D. degree in Plant Systematics from the Komarov Botanical Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia in 1993, and deputed as the Post Doctoral Darwin Fellow at the Natural History Museum, London during 1997-1999, especially to work on the 'Repatriation of Plant Information for Flora of Nepal'. He has coordinated more than 25 research projects on plant biodiversity and ethnomedicinal plants, published seven books, 50 research papers in international journals, 33 papers in national journals, and over 30 popular articles on the issues of biodiversity and ethnobotany. Prof. Shrestha is involved as a Biodiversity Expert in the Kangchenjungha Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative Project, at the Research Centre for Applied Science and Technology (RECAST), TU. Prof. Shrestha is one of the Editors of Flora of Nepal, an international initiative of the institutions of Nepal, Japan, and U.K. He is also contributing as the Advisory Board Member of Flora of Pan Himalaya, lead by Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.