Growing up in the Nepal mountain and working across South Asia in his early careers, Hemant has developed a deep passion for using the work of knowledge to improve the wellbeing of the communities in the Global South. With his cross-disciplinary educational background covering forestry, economics, and political science, he takes a problem centric view on academic knowledge generation. His work integrates applied research, policy analysis, community empowerment, and social entrepreneurship with a holistic view of change. He set up two influential think thanks and nurtured a community of action researchers who contributed to community based natural resources management in Nepal. He has advised international development agencies on community-based programs design. He divides his time between the academia (University of Canberra) and a research and development consulting firm Institute for Study and Development Worldwide (IFSD) in Sydney. He has published numerous papers on philosophy, principles, methodologies and practices of inclusive and sustainable development.  He is currently developing a Policy and Practice Lab methodology that can assist development professionals and action researchers to effectively use evidence, interactive learning, and community empowerment to influence development policy and practice.