About

Netra B. Chhetri is a professor at the School for the Future of Innovation in Society at Arizona State University, with affiliations including the Center for Biodiversity Outcomes, Humanities for the Environment Global Network, North American Observatory, and the Water Institute. He is also a Senior Global Futures Scientist with the Global Futures Scientists and Scholars. Professor Chhetri has been at the forefront of advancing innovative approaches to climate adaptation that integrate multi-scalar processes linking environmental dynamics and social outcomes. His work spans the complex intersections of climate change adaptation, food security, resource governance, grassroots innovation, and public engagement, enabling him to bridge the boundary between knowledge and practice to reinforce each other. He has developed a unique method for assessing multiple sources of environmental impacts on society, which serves as an important tool for designing and prioritizing climate adaptation strategies. With over a decade of experience working at the intersection of science and policy, he focuses on scalable, impactful, and sustainable solutions. His expertise in global food security has evolved to emphasize the impacts of climate change on global food systems, contributing to the Fourth and Fifth Assessment Reports of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Professor Chhetri's scholarly work is published in prestigious peer-reviewed journals such as Nature and the Journal of the National Academy of the Sciences. He is also involved in research exploring sustainable cultivation of biofuel crops like perennial grasses in the United States. He regularly teaches courses on Global Change, Human and Social Dimensions of Climate Change, and Cultural Perspectives on Sustainability. Professor Chhetri holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Geography with a minor in Demography from Pennsylvania State University and a B.S. in Agriculture from the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Sciences in Nepal. His research interests focus on knowledge co-creation for societal outcomes, understanding linkages between environment and social outcomes, demonstrating the value of technological and institutional innovation in climate adaptation, analyzing the sensitivity of global food systems to climate change, and engaging citizens in science and policy. His professional experience includes watershed management, conservation farming, agro-forestry, participatory development, community organization, integrated pest management, and ecological agriculture, with a commitment to integrating human-environment theory with real-world practices, especially among vulnerable communities worldwide.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Environmental resource management
• Business
• Environmental planning
• Ecology
• Public administration
• Psychology
• Environmental science
• Geography
• Economic system
• Economics

Selected publications

• Mapping Inclusive Development: A Global Bibliometric Performance Analysis

  World · 2026-01-23

  articleOpen access

  The growing prominence of inclusive development reflects persistent dissatisfaction with traditional growth-centric paradigms that failed to integrate social equity and environmental sustainability. However, the literature discourse of inclusive development lacks systematic analyses of its theoretical and conceptual structures. This paper presents a bibliometric analysis of inclusive development, mapping its intellectual structure, research dynamics, and scholarly contributions. Using bibliographic data from the Scopus and analytical tools including R version 4.5.1 and VOSviewer version 1.6.19, we assess the publication trends and citation patterns. The term first appeared in 1995, emerged slowly, and saw an exponential increase in publications around 2015, coinciding with the Sustainable Development Goals. There are 1871 publications (302 were published in 2024), with over 4500 scholars across 143 countries, publishing in over 1000 sources. The results feature prolific and influential authors, sources, countries, larger geographic regions, and publications. We find disparities among countries, anomalies between influential and prolific contributors, and hints of distinct author groupings. Findings suggest scholars and practitioners risk forming skewed conceptualizations of inclusive development without a clear understanding of the field’s structure. This paper provides such structure, highlighting the value of periodic assessments in consolidating theoretical coherence, strengthening cross-constituency scholarship, and advancing inclusive development’s role in sustainability science.

  PublisherDOI

• Exploring the imaginaries of inclusive development in indigenous communities: A focus on self-determination

  Social Sciences & Humanities Open · 2026-04-11

  articleOpen access

  Among many Indigenous communities, understandings of development are informed by experiences with outside actors, such as governments, NGOs, and corporations, that often prioritise external values over local aspirations. This imposition of external ideas and practices reinforces global power structures, marginalises Indigenous epistemologies, and constrains self-determination. Despite decades of indoctrination into the Eurocentric ways of life, Indigenous people continue to sustain different perspectives on development that diverge from Western ideologies. These perspectives challenge the traditional top-down development models and emphasise the importance of Indigenous knowledge in reimagining development processes and outcomes. Grounded in Sen's (1999) theory of freedom and capability expansion, this qualitative study examines four Indigenous communities in the Rupununi region of Guyana to explore how traditional development approaches can be reshaped to advance self-determination. The findings reveal that while Indigenous communities are eager to influence development processes, they remain systematically excluded. The evidence demonstrates a complex tension between self-determination and externally driven development practices, one that can be removed by legitimising communities to actively participate in and lead the design and implementation of development initiatives. The paper provides an empirical foundation for policy formulation of wellbeing-enhancing strategies through inclusion and self-determination within Indigenous communities.

  PublisherDOI

• Assessing Urban Flood Resilience in the Low-Elevation Capital, Georgetown, Guyana: A Principal Component Analysis-Driven Census-Based Index

  Land · 2026-03-14

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Urban flood resilience has emerged as a holistic citywide approach for mitigating flood hazards and navigating the impacts of extreme weather patterns induced by climate change. This is particularly pertinent for high-risk, low-elevation coastal cities like Georgetown, Guyana. However, while the literature on Georgetown includes assessments, analyses, modeling, vulnerability, and the socio-political history of flooding, we found no evidence of flood resilience assessment for the city. Therefore, this study presents a data-driven evaluation of flood resilience at the sub-district level in Georgetown. To accomplish this, we constructed flood resilience indices (FRIs) using the aggregated weighted mean index approach and census-based indicators across physical, social, and economic dimensions. Principal component analysis (PCA) was employed to generate these weights and, subsequently, to perform dimensionality reduction and determine a linear regression model for the FRI values. To evaluate the stability of the constructed indices, robustness tests were conducted using alternative normalization and weighting schemes to demonstrate the consistency of resilience rankings across specifications. The results show that (a) economic resilience is lowest, (b) there is notable clustering and sharp disparities in the physical and social dimensions, and (c) the social dimension has the strongest correlation with the total FRI, which is generally heterogeneous. PCA-derived principal components explained 77.347% of the variation in the FRI values, enabling dimensionality reduction and three-dimensional graphical presentations. Our findings provide urban planners with insights into the distribution of flood resilience needs across the city. This study enables informed decision-making, serving as a pathway to achieve equitable resource allocation and build the city’s resilience.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A Preliminary Conceptual Framework for Integrating Inclusive Development into Urban Flood Resilience

  2026-01-14

  book-chapter

  Cities located in low-elevation and other flood-prone zones continue to grapple with recurrent pluvial flooding and the looming risk of more extreme flood events driven by climate change. These hazards disproportionately affect socially vulnerable populations, and their impacts are often intensified by urban governance models that prioritise exclusive approaches. While flood resilience emerged as a well-intentioned, ecologically friendly solution, it usually inherits these exclusionary practices. This chapter explores the intersection of inclusive development and urban flood resilience to understand how principles of inclusive development can be systematically integrated into flood resilience thinking and practice. Drawing on an extensive review of both bodies of literature, the discussion reveals that, although inclusive development has gained traction across development research, and urban flood resilience has become a prominent theme in climate adaptation studies, the deliberate synthesis of these concepts has remained underdeveloped. We argue that while there are no metrics for measuring inclusive development as articulated by scholars, its guiding principles offer practical entry points for application and assessment. Building on these insights and on established approaches for evaluating flood resilience, the chapter proposes a preliminary conceptual framework for integrating inclusive development into urban flood resilience. This framework is intended to stimulate further scholarly refinement and to support practitioners working in flood-prone urban settings to transition from exclusionary planning toward more integrated, socially responsive, and socio-ecological approaches that promote and strengthen inclusive flood resilience.

  PublisherDOI

• A co-created model for self-determined development objectives in Indigenous communities

  Canadian Journal of Development Studies/Revue canadienne d études du développement · 2025-01-02

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Towards the Conceptual Framing of Inclusive Urban Flood Resilience

  Climate · 2025-06-01 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access

  The governance of cities in low-elevation zones faces many challenges. Notable among these are losses associated with regular pluvial floods and, more so, the threat of impending extreme floods due to climate change and their impacts on residents, especially amongst socially vulnerable groups. This is exacerbated by the reliance on traditionally exclusive approaches to governance. This paper discusses the flood resilience aspect of urban planning by examining the extent of emphasis on inclusiveness in urban flood resilience literature. We relied on the synthesis of inclusive development and flood resilience literature. The findings suggest that, while inclusive development is a burgeoning aspect of development research, and studies on evaluating urban flood resilience are commonplace, the concept of inclusive urban flood resilience is still in its infancy. Furthermore, we found that while inclusive development is neither static nor finite to allow for measuring it in absolute terms, it can be applied or assessed through any or all of its guiding principles. Consequently, together with the well-established methods of implementing and assessing urban flood resilience, we present a preliminary framework for inclusive urban flood resilience as a guide for future scholarly contributions to this composite field. Scholars and practitioners of urban planning in low-elevation zones are encouraged to move away from top–down siloed approaches that result in exclusions and rely more on integrated, inclusive, and socio-ecological pathways to preserve the integrity of cities.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Transcending Technocentric Approaches and Enhancing Productive Use of Solar-Powered Irrigation System: Case Study From Kuleni Village of Nepal

  IEEE Technology and Society Magazine · 2025-06-16 · 2 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  By promoting solar-powered irrigation (SPI), governments around the world are aiming to make agriculture more sustainable, reduce carbon emissions, adapt to climate change, and foster rural development. Toward that aim, much of the effort to date has been put into improving access to solar technologies through innovation in technical infrastructure and financial investments. Despite these goals, there is no concurrent investment in the optimization of energy use generated through these SPI; promoters of SPI do not know the value that farmers can potentially generate if SPI is directed to productive usage-irrigation and otherwise. Our study conducted in one of the most in-demand solar irrigation sites in Nepal's southern plains reveals that a significant amount of energy generated from SPI is not utilized and is "spilled/wasted." The conventional emphasis given to the technocentric approach that Nepal's solar energy promoters currently deploy needs to be refocused in favor of prioritizing policies to allow farmers to optimize the use of energy generated through these SPI systems and avoid "spill/waste." This shift demands a new set of innovative approaches that are both technological and social in thinking so that the energy that is currently being spilled/wasted can be utilized for more productive end uses. Market-based solutions such as farmers selling "excess" electricity back to the grid through the arrangement of net metering and the introduction of an agricultural value chain can potentially expand opportunities for farmers to improve their livelihoods and generate jobs locally.

  PublisherDOI

• Unlocking the green economy in Guyana: Leveraging agro-industrial residues for sustainable energy and carbon mitigation

  Energy Sustainable Development/Energy for sustainable development · 2025-03-31 · 1 citations

  articleCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Factors associated with commuting stress among tertiary education employees in Georgetown, Guyana

  medRxiv · 2024-02-27

  preprintOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with commuting stress using symptomatology among tertiary education employees in Georgetown Guyana. A cross sectional survey was conducted among 427 (100 male, 317 female) participants, with a mean age of 29.6(sd=8.7) years. Data about their demographic characteristics, psychosocial measures (perceived stress, coping and resilience), characteristics about their commute (length, mode, and satisfaction with commute infrastructure), and how often they experienced selected symptoms associated with stress on the daily commute was collected using a self administered questionnaire. A commuting stress score was calculated for each participant and this was followed by regression analysis. The results showed that after controlling for resiliency, coping, perception of job, total life stress, income levels and education all of which can contribute to how persons perceive hassles in their lives, the regression model demonstrated that females, persons who used public transportation, persons who have longer commute times and persons who are less satisfied with the commute infrastructure are more likely to report that they experience symptoms associated with stress while engaged in the daily commute compared to males, persons who use private transportation, persons who have shorter commute times and persons who are more satisfied with the commute infrastructure respectively. Once all controlled variables were accounted for, it appears that for this study population, age, where they live and whether or not they actively or passively commuted did not have any meaningful impact on whether they would report if they experienced stress associated symptoms while engaged in the daily commute. he results suggest the need for a multi-pronged approach to address commuting stress, involving individual healthcare, mental-health-centric urban transport design, improved commute infrastructure, and increased employer engagement. Future studies employing qualitative and experimental methods are recommended.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Characterization of small-scale net fisheries off the coast of Guyana

  PLoS ONE · 2024-06-28 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Fish stocks have declined rapidly over the past half-century due to the increased demand for seafood and unsustainable fishing practices. The incidental capture of non-target species (bycatch) is a pervasive issue in fisheries management and has led to population declines in non-target species worldwide. The fisheries sector in Guyana currently supports the livelihoods of over 10,000 Guyanese and contributes approximately 2% to the country's GDP. Bycatch is believed to be a major threat to Guyana's marine fisheries, especially the small-scale sector, due to a lack of management infrastructure and limited data and monitoring. Here, we assessed bycatch in Guyana's artisanal gillnet and Chinese seine fisheries through vessel observations and semi-structured interviews with local fishers. Most of the discarded species documented had no commercial importance to the fisheries in Guyana. Although no statistical difference was observed among the bycatch rates in the gillnet and Chinese seine fisheries, the latter generally had more discarded individuals, most of which were juveniles. The Shannon-Weiner diversity index showed a greater diversity of bycatch species in the gillnet fisheries compared to the Chinese seine. Jaccard's similarity index indicated a low similarity among the gear types. Even though most fishers were aware of bycatch, they did not view it as a major issue and were not interested in reducing their discards. We recommend a collaborative approach in exploring solutions to ensure the ecological and socioeconomic sustainability of the fisheries sector.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Asif Ishtiaque

  13 shared

• Pashupati Chaudhary

  13 shared

• Rajiv Ghimire

  12 shared

• P. S. Jagadish

  Arizona State University

  9 shared

• Krishna Lamsal

  University of Tasmania

  8 shared

• Hallie Eakin

  Arizona State University

  8 shared

• Milan Shrestha

  Arizona State University

  7 shared

• Neha Chhetri

  Institute for the Future

  6 shared

Education

• B.S.

  Institute of Agriculture and Animal Sciences, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal

• M.S., Geography, minor in Demography

  Pennsylvania State University

• Ph.D., Geography, minor in Demography

  Pennsylvania State University

Awards & honors

• WSC - Category 3: Sustainable Large-Scale Deployment of Pere…
• Adaptive Pathways to Climate Change: Livestock and Livelihoo…
• Adapting Livestock Systems to Climate Change (COLORADO STATE…
• Partnership for Education on Climate Change Engineered Syste…
• World Wide Views on Climate Change: Process and Outcomes (Po…