Lumbini to Lo Manthang: Exploring Ties Between Climate, Health and Society in Nepal 

The effects of climate change are pronounced in Nepal, a country of diverse people and landscapes. During a three-week trip through the South Asian country, Duke students gained perspective on the inextricable ties between environmental change and human well-being. 

Video by Alina Taalman/Text by Julie Leibach

Photos by Tom White

A group of people standing in line on the roof of a residential home, with a solar panel at their feet.

In the mid-2000s, residents of Samdzong, an ancient community perched high in the Himalayas of Nepal, began to leave their village for good. The freshwater springs and streams they had relied on for generations were drying up, in part due to climate change. By around 2016, they had built a new village from the ground up near a river several miles from their homeland. 

鈥淓ven though these new lands...do have better road access, better water access and more opportunity for people in the town, this doesn鈥檛 take away from the fact that they did have to leave their ancestral homeland [because of] an issue that they didn鈥檛 cause,鈥 says Duke student Chloe Young, T鈥26.  

Young is one of nine Duke undergraduate and graduate students who visited the new village, New Samdzong, during a three-week trip through Nepal last summer. The journey was part of a focused on planetary health 鈥 the idea that human health and well-being are inseparable from the Earth鈥檚 natural systems. Organized by an international team of experts led by Brian McAdoo, the Truman and Nellie Semans/Alex Brown & Sons Professor of Geosciences Bass Chair at the Nicholas School of the Environment and director of the , the program also included students from Nepal, India, China and the United Arab Emirates.   

Although climate change has touched all corners of the globe, the effects are particularly acute in Nepal, where many people depend on natural resources for livelihoods and cultural practices. In this South Asian country, where nearly 30 million people live across rural countryside and urban centers, climate change affects communities in dramatically different ways.  

In mid-elevation areas, for instance, landslides are a , stemming from a combination of intensifying summer rains and unstable land 鈥 often exacerbated by road construction. And high in the Himalayas, climbing temperatures are , threatening the freshwater resources of mountain communities and downstream dwellers alike.  

 

 

Illustrated cross-section diagram of the Himalayan Planetary Health Transect showing elevation rising from Chitwan National Park (100 m) through Tansen (1,000 m), Pokhara (800 m), Marpha (2,500 m), and Muktinath/Lo Manthang (around 3,800鈥3,840 m). Icons at each location depict changing environmental conditions, health factors, livelihoods, climate hazards, and ecosystems along the altitudinal gradient. A vertical scale on the left marks elevation from 1,000 to 5,000 meters, and the title reads 鈥淗imalayan Pl
Expert guides led students across a transect, or path, of varied elevations and ecosystems. Along the way, they learned about environmental and social challenges facing Nepali communities. Figure by Brian McAdoo

 

糖心传媒s saw firsthand how these changes can affect Nepali communities. Traveling by bus, jeep and foot, from the low-lying province of Lumbini 鈥 the birthplace of Buddha 鈥 to Lo Manthang, an ancient walled city perched high in the Himalayas. Along the way, they met local community members and experts who challenged their perspectives in ways impossible to replicate in a lecture hall. 鈥 

For students like Young, the trip was transformative.  

鈥淭he [Lumbini to Lo Manthang] trip is seriously one of the most enlightening, inspiring and intellectually stimulating experiences that I鈥檝e had at Duke,鈥 Young says. 鈥淚t has really shaped my curiosities, my relationships and the way that I think about these global issues that we talk about so much in the classroom.鈥 

Watch the video below for a window into the trip, and learn more about the immersive student experience in . The Nicholas School is planning another visit to Nepal in May 2026. For more information, .

Featured Video

Lumbini to Lo Manthang

Duke students Chloe Young, T鈥26, and Nikhil Sethi, P鈥28, describe their experiences during a three-week immersion in Nepal, a country of varied landscapes and diverse communities on the frontlines of climate change.

We got to have conversations with locals, people walking down the street that we stopped to talk to, and this was such a unique aspect of the trip. I learned so much more through these conversations than I ever would have expected and formed friendships that I know are going to last.鈥

鈥 Chloe Young, T鈥26  

Scenes From the Transect

Photo credit: Tom White and student participants

Scenes from Duke students traveling through diverse landscapes in Nepal鈥攆rom Lumbini to the high Himalayas鈥攅ngaging with local communities and witnessing how climate change affects ecology, culture, and daily life.
Scenes from Duke students traveling through diverse landscapes in Nepal鈥攆rom Lumbini to the high Himalayas鈥攅ngaging with local communities and witnessing how climate change affects ecology, culture, and daily life.
Scenes from Duke students traveling through diverse landscapes in Nepal鈥攆rom Lumbini to the high Himalayas鈥攅ngaging with local communities and witnessing how climate change affects ecology, culture, and daily life.
Scenes from Duke students traveling through diverse landscapes in Nepal鈥攆rom Lumbini to the high Himalayas鈥攅ngaging with local communities and witnessing how climate change affects ecology, culture, and daily life.
Scenes from Duke students traveling through diverse landscapes in Nepal鈥攆rom Lumbini to the high Himalayas鈥攅ngaging with local communities and witnessing how climate change affects ecology, culture, and daily life.
Scenes from Duke students traveling through diverse landscapes in Nepal鈥攆rom Lumbini to the high Himalayas鈥攅ngaging with local communities and witnessing how climate change affects ecology, culture, and daily life.
Scenes from Duke students traveling through diverse landscapes in Nepal鈥攆rom Lumbini to the high Himalayas鈥攅ngaging with local communities and witnessing how climate change affects ecology, culture, and daily life.
Scenes from Duke students traveling through diverse landscapes in Nepal鈥攆rom Lumbini to the high Himalayas鈥攅ngaging with local communities and witnessing how climate change affects ecology, culture, and daily life.
Scenes from Duke students traveling through diverse landscapes in Nepal鈥攆rom Lumbini to the high Himalayas鈥攅ngaging with local communities and witnessing how climate change affects ecology, culture, and daily life.
Scenes from Duke students traveling through diverse landscapes in Nepal鈥攆rom Lumbini to the high Himalayas鈥攅ngaging with local communities and witnessing how climate change affects ecology, culture, and daily life.
Scenes from Duke students traveling through diverse landscapes in Nepal鈥攆rom Lumbini to the high Himalayas鈥攅ngaging with local communities and witnessing how climate change affects ecology, culture, and daily life.
Scenes from Duke students traveling through diverse landscapes in Nepal鈥攆rom Lumbini to the high Himalayas鈥攅ngaging with local communities and witnessing how climate change affects ecology, culture, and daily life.
Scenes from Duke students traveling through diverse landscapes in Nepal鈥攆rom Lumbini to the high Himalayas鈥攅ngaging with local communities and witnessing how climate change affects ecology, culture, and daily life.
Scenes from Duke students traveling through diverse landscapes in Nepal鈥攆rom Lumbini to the high Himalayas鈥攅ngaging with local communities and witnessing how climate change affects ecology, culture, and daily life.
Scenes from Duke students traveling through diverse landscapes in Nepal鈥攆rom Lumbini to the high Himalayas鈥攅ngaging with local communities and witnessing how climate change affects ecology, culture, and daily life.
Scenes from Duke students traveling through diverse landscapes in Nepal鈥攆rom Lumbini to the high Himalayas鈥攅ngaging with local communities and witnessing how climate change affects ecology, culture, and daily life.
Scenes from Duke students traveling through diverse landscapes in Nepal鈥攆rom Lumbini to the high Himalayas鈥攅ngaging with local communities and witnessing how climate change affects ecology, culture, and daily life.
Scenes from Duke students traveling through diverse landscapes in Nepal鈥攆rom Lumbini to the high Himalayas鈥攅ngaging with local communities and witnessing how climate change affects ecology, culture, and daily life.
Scenes from Duke students traveling through diverse landscapes in Nepal鈥攆rom Lumbini to the high Himalayas鈥攅ngaging with local communities and witnessing how climate change affects ecology, culture, and daily life.
Scenes from Duke students traveling through diverse landscapes in Nepal鈥攆rom Lumbini to the high Himalayas鈥攅ngaging with local communities and witnessing how climate change affects ecology, culture, and daily life.
Scenes from Duke students traveling through diverse landscapes in Nepal鈥攆rom Lumbini to the high Himalayas鈥攅ngaging with local communities and witnessing how climate change affects ecology, culture, and daily life.
Scenes from Duke students traveling through diverse landscapes in Nepal鈥攆rom Lumbini to the high Himalayas鈥攅ngaging with local communities and witnessing how climate change affects ecology, culture, and daily life.
Scenes from Duke students traveling through diverse landscapes in Nepal鈥攆rom Lumbini to the high Himalayas鈥攅ngaging with local communities and witnessing how climate change affects ecology, culture, and daily life.
Scenes from Duke students traveling through diverse landscapes in Nepal鈥攆rom Lumbini to the high Himalayas鈥攅ngaging with local communities and witnessing how climate change affects ecology, culture, and daily life.