Shyam K. Upadhyaya is an Environmental and Social Performance Specialist at the Office of the Millennium Challenge Nepal (OMCN), a joint initiative between the Government of Nepal and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a US Government agency that aims to reduce poverty through economic growth.  

Shyam has more than 25 years’ experience in policy and action research, influencing policy making and project/programme design, management, implementation, and evaluation. His specialist areas are agriculture, forestry, energy, the environment, natural resources, and Payments for Environmental Services (PES) schemes. 

He was previously a Research Fellow at Winrock International, which has successfully implemented over 100 energy projects in Nepal, covering 75 out of 77 districts. Shyam has also worked as a Consultant at the Poverty Environment Initiative (PEI)/National Planning Commission (NPC)/UNDP, and as a Team Leader/Natural Resource Management Specialist for the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)/Institute for Integrated Development Studies.  

Shyam studied Agricultural Economics at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Agricultural Sciences at Rajendra Agricultural University, and Biological Sciences at Amrit Campus, Tribhuvan University.