This accreditation gives ICIMOD a formal entry point into the 2026 UN Water Conference process and an important opportunity to elevate the water priorities of the Hindu Kush Himalaya in global policy discussions. As the source of 12 major river systems supporting millions in the mountains and billions downstream, the HKH must be recognised as core water infrastructure for sustainable development and climate resilience.
At 4,300 metres above sea level (masl) on the China-Nepal border near Nyalam town, 22-year-old Jiao Mengjie, a PhD student of geological engineering from Yangtze University, China stands at a proglacial river corridor, reading the evidence left by past floods: channel forms, flood paths, debris deposits, and erosions along riverbanks. Further up, her colleague, 26-year-old Jia Wenjun is taking measurements as she scrutinises, jots down, and photographs sediment deposits and exposed assets. These are routines in field geology and glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) research which has traditionally remained male dominated. Such work can indeed be harsh: long journeys, steep slopes, mountain weather, unstable riverbanks, heavy equipment, and careful observation under pressure. But what stands out is not the difficulty, it is how young women scientists are now taking leading roles in the field as observers, data collectors, communicators, and as emerging leaders in transboundary disaster risk reduction.
The China-Nepal border region is highly prone to disaster events such as GLOFs, landslides, river erosion, and sediment surges. Hazards that begin high in glacierised catchments can move rapidly downstream, affecting roads, settlements, hydropower facilities, bridges, and livelihoods. Mengjie and Wenjun are part of a China-Nepal research team carrying out a joint field investigation on transboundary GLOF hazards. The team they are involved in includes officials and researchers from the Ministries of Water Resources and Foreign Affairs of China, Water Resources Department of the Xizang Autonomous Region, Yangtze University, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), and research institutions from the two countries. Their field mission combined a series of key activities conducted across Kathmandu in Nepal, and Gyirong and Zhangmu in China-Nepal border areas.
From 23 May to 3 June 2026, Mengjie and Wenjun’s team from Yangtze University contributed to field investigation, installation of seismic monitoring stations, monitoring data collection and transmission, disaster database verification, and technical support for a future warning platform, including three seismic monitoring stations at Gyirong and Zhangmu sites on both sides of the border. Part of the delegation also visited Nepal’s energy, water resources, hydrology, disaster management, academic, and hydropower stakeholders, and conducted interviews and training workshops with communities along transboundary river corridors.
The work feeds into laying a foundation for a future China-Nepal GLOF early warning platform that is built around joint upstream-downstream investigation, integrated information on multi-hazard chains, monitoring and early warning systems that combine technical structures and community-based communication, and practical disaster risk reduction tools including timely outreach and trainings.
For young women scientists, this work is transformative in ways that go beyond just data collection. It turns textbook hazards into living systems: a glacial lake from a polygon on maps to a massive body of water; a landslide from a modelled scenario to actual destruction on the ground; and feeling the warning threshold beyond being just a number. These concepts become connected to people: hydropower operators, residents, engineers, officials, and first responders. The field becomes a classroom, a laboratory, and a diplomacy space.
Mengjie described this shift, “Before the fieldwork, I understood GLOF risks mainly through maps, reports, and models. But standing beside the actual river, looking at traces of floods, comparing them with what we have captured via satellite made the risk realistic. It reminded me that science is not complete until it can support people who need to make decisions on the grounds.”
The work is intentionally designed to move from data to decision support, and from field evidence to local preparedness, and this is where 'Women on rocks' becomes more than a slogan. In the earlier hydropower collaboration, young women researchers helped assess landslide and debris flow risks. The new GLOF work extends that spirit from rock slopes to river corridors, from hydropower sites to transboundary warning systems, and from individual field experience to regional resilience. Wenjun saw the connection between technical work and cooperation. “What impressed me most was how transboundary disaster risk reduction is built through practical details: checking instruments, verifying data, listening to communities, and discussing the same river with colleagues from different institutions and countries,” she said. “Fieldwork gave me not only confidence that young women researchers can contribute to observations and data, but also patience, communication, and trust needed to become a real scientist,” she added.
The reflections from these two young women researchers show a broader shift in who gets to do the science and how, and that inclusion is not just an add-on to good science practice. A research team with members from diverse social and gender backgrounds is likely to ask different questions, recognise different dimensions of risks, and widen the pathways through which knowledge travels. When women researchers are included in designing monitoring systems, and are leading community engagement, early warning systems reflect the ground reality. This is not because women are inherently better at these tasks, but because diverse and inclusive perspectives shape the questions that are asked, the data that are collected, and ultimately the quality and usefulness of the science.
This activity aligns with ICIMOD’s wider commitment to youth and women in science. In 2024, ICIMOD initiated the HKH women on ice to address gender imbalance in field-based cryosphere science and to empower women from the region with knowledge, skills, mentoring, and professional networks. Likewise, ICIMOD’s youth initiative seeks to position youth as knowledge holders who can influence climate science, policy, and diplomacy.
The future of transboundary disaster risk reduction needs to be people centred, especially those who can move between boundaries: between science and policy, between up and down streams and mountain slopes, between China and Nepal, and between technical modelling and community preparedness. There is the need for more young women researchers like Mengjie and Wenjun to become part of this bridge, to help translate field evidence into risk communication, monitoring protocols, shared datasets, training materials, and eventually the trust needed for cooperation. This is embedded in the broader HKH river resilience agenda: women and youth should be recognised not only as vulnerable groups, but as agents of change – citizen scientists, local leaders, first responders, and members of basin level cooperation.
This China-Nepal joint field expedition demonstrates three forms of progress: it strengthened scientific evidence base for GLOF risk identification, seismic activity monitoring, and warning indicators. It deepened institutional collaboration among universities, ICIMOD, government agencies, and local stakeholders. It also shows advance made by young women scientists in the most physically demanding parts of mountain research.
The rocks will remain steep, the rivers will continue to surge with fierce white waters, and the risks will keep growing as climate change accelerates. But amid these changing landscapes, another transformation is underway: the people doing science are changing too. When you see more young women standing on unstable slopes with notebooks, sensors, maps, and questions, they are not just measuring hazards; you are witnessing a shift of a traditional field as they redefine who is seen as a scientist, who gets to lead resilience work, and who will carry transboundary cooperation forward.
Women on rocks is becoming women across rivers, women across borders, and women for resilience.
Acknowledgement
This activity is part of the NSFC-ICIMOD partnership, which is building a practical model for scientific cooperation through the project Understanding landslide-induced multi-hazards for building resilient communities along trans-Himalayan socio-economic corridors, led by Professor Chen Ningsheng and his team at Yangtze University, China. Bringing together Chinese scientists, ICIMOD experts, and regional partners, the project examines how multi-hazards affect infrastructure, communities, and cross-border river systems, and shows how shared science can support safer development, stronger preparedness, and trusted regional dialogue.
Relevant news links by Yangtze University
中尼携手开展跨界河流科考 长江大学助力跨境防灾减灾体系建设
China and Nepal jointly launch cross-border river scientific expedition: Yangtze University contributes to the construction of cross-border disaster prevention and mitigation systems
https://news.yangtzeu.edu.cn/info/1003/37699.htm
我院师生赴尼泊尔科技指导马楠马相迪水电站地质灾害防治工作
Faculty and students from our college travel to Nepal to provide technical guidance on geological disaster prevention and control for the Manang Marshyangdi Hydropower Station
https://dqkx.yangtzeu.edu.cn/info/1053/2938.htm