Himalayan Ancient DNA Project Outreach

After 15 years of conducting archaeological fieldwork and ancient DNA research in the High Himalayan region of Upper Mustang in Nepal, we returned to Nepal in March 2024 to deliver the results of our findings on human population history, pathogen history, and food fermentation history. We shared our results at two university symposia hosted by Tribhuvan University and Pokhara University, we met and discussed our results with Tibetan descendant communities through the Lo Gyalpo Jigme Foundation, we presented our results to the ambassador’s staff at the US Embassy, and we partnered with three K-12 schools to provide science-themed classroom activities to more than 180 students at the Ullens School and Rato Bangala School in Kathmandu, and at the Himalayan Buddhist Academy in Pokhara, Nepal. Check out our photo album from the events!

A big thank you to Jiban Ghimire, Astha Thapa, Suchitra Thapa, Namraj Dhami, Yangchen Gurung, Ekta Rana, Rashmi Uprety, and Lama Pasang Gurung for making this possible, and to Mark Aldenderfer, Juhyeon Lee, Megan Michel, Maxime Borry, and Mackenzie Gibson for their research and educational contributions!