[1] An internationally renowned professional on public interest research, mountain environment and water governance in south Asia, Bandyopadhyay has authored sixteen critically acclaimed books and monographs, in addition to 150 papers and articles.

In 1977 he joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA, as a visiting post-doctoral fellow in the area of science and public policy.

Following his work for a doctorate in Physics of Metals Bandyopadhyay has been closely associated with research on science, environment and economy in the mountains, in particular the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) in Asia.

He has been an adviser to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) New Delhi, and the Water Diplomacy Program at Tufts University, Medford, USA.

The central contribution of Bandyopadhyay is an interdisciplinary approach to the understanding of mountain areas and governance of the ten large rivers emerging from the Himalaya.