Leadership Team
Rick Silber
Rick Silber is the executive director and a co-founder of the Himalayan Climate & Science Institute. He is a litigation attorney in Washington, D.C., specializing in medical malpractice and personal injury law. A former trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, Rick started his own law firm in 1992. Outside of law, Rick holds a passion for recreation in the outdoors. His climbs include Mt. Washington and Mt. Adams (winter ascents) in New Hampshire, Mt. Whitney in California, Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Breithorn, the Munch and Pollux in the Alps, ranges in Alaska, Lobuche and Mera Peaks in Nepal. Today, Rick is Executive Director of International Mountain Trekking, Inc., providing guided treks in Nepal’s Everest region. He is also a member of the Board of the Directors of the Mycological Association of Washington, D.C. Rick is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire Law School and Beloit College where he majored in Biology.
Sonam Jangbu Sherpa
Sonam Jangbu Sherpa is a co-founder of HCSI and head of the HCSI Phorste Village Committee. Sonam’s family has lived in Phortse for as long as anyone can remember. His family owns property within Phortse which they have used for farming. Sonam and his family are donating the land which will house a research station for HCSI. Sonam is a graduate of the Central University of Tibetan Studies in Sarnath, Varanasi, India and is a licensed high-altitude mountain guide with multiple Everest summits. A student of Tibetan Buddhism, Sonam has studied at the Dongag Thekchhok Chholing Gomba under the direction of the Tengboche Lama. He is the Director of Operations/Nepal for International Mountain Trekking, Inc.
Shiva Devkota,
Ph.D
Shiva Devkota is co-chair of the HCSI Science Advisory Board. He is a research scientist at Global Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies, Nepal, an institute managed by young PhD scholars to boost scientific impact in Nepal. Currently, he is leading a project entitled “Digitization of Mycological Collections in Nepal” funded by Global Biodiversity Information Facility / Biodiversity Information Fund for Asia (GBIF/BIFA). He is also contributing as a research fellow of the IPBES Assessment of Sustainable Use of Wild Species. He received his M.Sc degree in Botany (Major Mycology) and M.A, in Sociology from Tribhuvan University, Nepal and Ph.D. degree in Ecology and Evolution in 2017 from Bern University and Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Switzerland. Apart from his expertise in projects development and multi-pronged national/international partnership, his main research interest is understanding the ecology, sociology and conservation genetics of wild mushrooms, caterpillar fungus, lichens, and plants in the Himalayas.
Mary Hubbard, Ph.D
Dr. Hubbard is co-chair of the HCSI Science Advisory Board. She is a Professor of Geology in the Department of Earth Sciences at Montana State University. She has previously served as Department Head at MSU and Kansas State University, and Dean of the College of Science and Vice Provost for Global Engagement at Utah State University. She is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America. She earned her B.A. from the University of Colorado and her Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She held a NATO post-doctoral fellowship at the ETH, Zurich. Her research has primarily been in the structural geology and tectonics of mountain belts and has taken her to the Himalaya, the Western Alps, the Southern Alps (NZ), the Mauritanides (Senegal), the Damara Belt (Namibia), the Appalachians, and the Rocky Mountains. She has worked in the Everest area of eastern Nepal since 1985. In 2017, she served as a Fulbright Specialist at the Tri Chandra Multiple Campus of Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu, Nepal. She was a co-leader of the geology team on the National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet Extreme Expedition in April/May 2019.
Charles Bedford
Charles Bedford is HCSI’s Strategic Planning Advisor. He is also the Principal in Keelback Consulting, a Hong Kong-based consultancy focused on sustainability, natural resource management and philanthropy. Clients include non-profits, private equity firms, and timber and fisheries companies. He recently stepped down from his role as Regional Managing Director for The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) Asia Pacific Region. Charles worked closely with TNC country program leaders across Asia, the Pacific Islands and Australia to identify and advance essential marine, freshwater and land conservation priorities and projects. He also worked with the region’s business and government leadership on next-generation conservation solutions that benefit both nature and people. Prior to joining TNC, Charles served as director of the Colorado State Land Board, was the overseer of 3 million hectares of state lands, was Legal Counsel to Colorado Governor Roy Romer and practiced law with the firm Kutak Rock. He graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and holds a J.D. from the University of Colorado School of Law. He is the author of journal articles, blogs and a book on land tenure and conservation.
Liam Torpy
Liam Torpy is HCSI’s senior program director. Before joining HCSI’s leadership team, Liam worked with the Georgia chapter of The Nature Conservancy to create their current strategic plan, and he served as a lobbyist with the Georgia Water Coalition in Atlanta. Liam helped the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago collect and analyze data to support AZA Species Survival Plans, and he conducted practical conservation biology research in Tanzania to determine whether a key large mammal migration corridor in the Tarangire-Manyara ecosystem was still viable. He also served with the U.S. Forest Service outside of Bozeman, Montana and with the nonprofit Trees Atlanta. Liam has a deep interest in land and forest conservation that protects biodiversity and serve local communities. He graduated from the University of Chicago with a B.S. in environmental science.
Science Advisory Board
Mary Hubbard, Ph.D - Science Advisory Board Co-Chair - Montana State University - Head of Department of Earth Sciences
Shiva Devkota, Ph.D - Science Advisory Board Co-Chair - Global Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies (GIIS), Nepal - Research Scientist in Mycology Genetics
Andrea Easter-Pilcher, Ph.D - Weber State University - Dean of the College of Science and Professor of Wildlife Biology
Anata Prasad Gajurel, Ph.D - Tribhuvan University, Nepal -Geology/Tectonics/Geochemistry
Tom Matthews, Ph.D - Loughborough University, UK - Lecturer in Climate Science
Wendy Ridenour, Ph.D - The University of Montana Western - Ecologist and Associate Professor of Biology
Rob Thomas, Ph.D - The University of Montana Western - Professor of Geology/Natural Hazards and Regents Professor
Moshe Inbar, Ph.D - University of Haifa, Israel - Animal and Plant Interactions
Board of Directors
Rick Silber - Executive Director of HCSI & Litigation Attorney
Karl Reichelt - Senior Advisor at Equitix Investment Management
Mary Hubbard, Ph.D - Head of Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University
Shiva Devkota, Ph.D - Research Scientist at the Global Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies
Sonam Jangbu Sherpa - Head of HCSI Phortse Village Committee; Director of Operations for International Mountain Trekking
Michael Maya, J.D. - International Bar Association - Director of North America
Brian D. Israel - Arnold & Porter - Partner and Chair of Environmental Practice Group
Robert I. Haddad, Ph.D - Kelly Services - Group Vice President & Principal Scientist of Kelly Services
Anneliese Ripley - Dean of the School of Outreach, Director of Research and Grants at the University of Montana Western
Photo of Tahr and Eagle by Steve Mock