Sara Shneiderman holds degrees in both Anthropology and Religious Studies from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, USA.

She first visited Nepal as a student in 1994, and then lived in Nepal full-time for over three years from 1997-2000. During this time she worked as coordinator for educational travel programs such as Sojourn Nepal and Where There Be Dragons, leading student groups throughout the Himalayan region.

She has also conducted research with Buddhist and Bon women in Himalayan areas such as Mustang and Dolakha, and is currently on the advisory board of Drokpa, an NGO devoted to sustainable development in high altitude areas.

As a Fulbright Scholar in Nepal in 1999-2000, Shneiderman conducted ethnographic research with the Thangmi, a little-known ethnic group indigenous to the eastern districts of Dolakha and Sindhupalcok. Photography plays a central role in her work, and in September 2000 she held her first photo exhibition, THANGMI, in Kathmandu. She seeks to integrate visual and social anthropology by developing multimedia resources such as Digital Himalaya. Shneiderman is at present pursuing graduate research in the Department of Anthropology at Cornell University.

Sara Shneiderman