Titles

• Senior Global Futures Scientist, Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory
• Faculty Associate, School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Biography

Ambika P. Adhikari has been teaching intermittently as a faculty associate at ASU since 2003. He is a Principal Planner managing the long-range planning division at City of Tempe.

Ambika has over 30 years of professional and academic experience in urban and environmental planning and international development in several countries around the globe including Nepal, India, USA, Canada, Mexico, Kenya, Thailand, Korea, Singapore and Fiji.

Ambika began his career as a Senior Director at DPRA Inc. in Toronto and Washington DC, where he managed international urban and environmental and international development programs and projects. Shortly after, he served as Nepal's Country Representative of the Switzerland based IUCN—International Union for Conservation of Nature, leading Nepal's national and some Asia regional programs in several environmental and conservation arenas. He was also a member of the Government of Nepal's National Water and Energy Commission, the highest policy-making national body in this sector. Eventually, Ambika settled in Phoenix, Arizona, where he worked for the City of Phoenix as a Village Planner and Project Manager and as a Senior Planner at SRPMIC in Scottsdale, Arizona, before joining Arizona State University in 2012 on a full-time basis, where he served until September 2016. After a brief sojourn at the US-based global engineering firm CH2M, Ambika joined the City of Tempe, Arizona as a Principal Planner.

Ambika has authored one book, co-edited five books, published numerous reports and articles and refereed articles in journals. He regularly writes and lectures on sustainability and urban planning, international development, climate change policy, and international environmental policies and programs. He has extensive practical experience on incorporating sustainability principles in urban planning and economic development practices.

Ambika received his Doctorate in Urban Planning and Design from Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, obtained his post-graduate fellowship from MIT, and M. Arch. from University of Hawaii. Before arriving in the US, Ambika was an Associate Professor of Architecture and Planning at the Institute of Engineering, Tribhuvan University, Nepal. He is a member of American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP), and holds the designations of Project Management Professional (PMP) through Project Management Institute (PMI), and LEED AP (ND) through the US Green Building Council (USGBC).

Education

• Doctor of Design, Urban Planning and Design, Harvard University
• Fellow, Special Program in Urban and Regional Studies (SPURS), Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• MArch, Architecture, University of Hawaii
• Certificate, Planning, University of Hawaii

Expertise

• climate change and adaptation
• international environmental policy and programs
• urban planning
• urban development
• economic development
• conservation
• environmental policy
• clean energy policies
• international development
• land use change
• smart growth
• urban infrastructure
• renewable energy