Dr Harka Gurung is Nepal's foremost authority on the Himalaya. He was the leader of the government committee formed to provide names to mountain peaks in 1983. Born in Lamjung District, Dr Gurung studied in Dehra Dun and Patna before receiving a PhD from the University of Edinburgh. He later served as the Vice-Chairman of the National Planning Commission (1968–75) and Minister of State (1975–78) in the Nepalese government. His areas of professional interest include demography, planning, environment, geography, sociology, and tourism. He has authored numerous books, including Annapurna to Dhaulagari (1968), Vignettes of Nepal (1980), Dimensions of Development (1984), Social Demography and Expressions (1998), Mountains of Asia (1999), Landscape Change in the Nepal Hills (2004), Peaks and Pinnacles (2005) and Mountain Reflections (2005). Dr Gurung continues his research on Himalayan life and sciences. Dr Harka Gurung was interviewed by Ulrike Müller-Böker, Professor of Geography and head of the Human Geography Division, University of Zurich (Switzerland). She is also Head of the NCCR North–South Individual Project on Institutional Change and Livelihood Strategies. She has worked regularly in Nepal since 1977, and has known Harka Gurung since 1979, when he was State Minister and she was a student.
