Shahida Haji

Growing up in the mountains of Hunza, in Pakistan's part of the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region, where glacier melt and grazing seasons shaped daily life long before anyone called it climate data, set the course for everything that followed a graduate education in geo-environmental conservation and watershed management, and four-plus years since spent turning that same instinct into practice. I bring geospatial science and lived mountain knowledge together to turn climate and hazard data into decisions governments, financial institutions, and communities can actually act on. That's carried me from GLOF and multi-hazard risk assessments to early warning systems and stakeholder training, always translating between the technical and the practical and it's now pulling me toward international platforms where that combination can shape climate resilience at scale.

Manager, Strategic Communications & Grants Management - AI Geo Nagiavtor - Islamabad, Pakistan

(2025-01)

• Handle strategic communications and outreach, building relationships with partners and stakeholders both in Pakistan and abroad.
• Track down funding opportunities — donor calls, EU programmes, and climate-related grants — that fit where the company is headed technically.
• Put together proposals, concept notes, and grant documentation for climate resilience, GIS, remote sensing, and AI-driven work.
• Serve as the main point of contact with government agencies, universities, development partners, NGOs, INGOs, and private companies.
• Turn outreach conversations into real meetings, partnerships, and proposal opportunities.
• Work with the technical team to take complex AI, GIS, remote sensing, and ESG work and turn it into proposals and materials non-specialists can follow.
• Represent the organization at meetings, conferences, and stakeholder events.

Research & Development Coordinator – Climate Risk and Geospatial Solutions - AI Geo Nagiavtor - Islamabad, Pakistan

(2024-04)

• GLOF Risk Assessment and Forecasting – Power & Water Division, Gilgit-Baltistan
• Multi-Hazard Vulnerability and Risk Assessment – Nushki, Balochistan
• Climate Risk and Stress Testing Concept – Banking Sector, Pakistan
• ESG and Sustainability Communication – AI Geo University–Industry Collaboration and Capacity Building Initiatives

Visiting Faculty - PMAS Arid Agriculture University - Rawalpindi, Pakistan

(2023-09 - 2025-05)

Department of Forestry & Range Management

• Taught how Remote Sensing and GIS are used in forestry, environmental management, and natural resource planning.
• Helped students apply geospatial tools to their own research and fieldwork.
• Supervised undergraduate research in GIS, remote sensing, and forestry.
• Built practical, hands-on geospatial exercises into the coursework rather than keeping it all theoretical.

Research Assistant (Provincial Land Use of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan) - Urban Sector Planning and Management - Lahore, Pakistan

(2022-11 - 2023-01)

• Worked on a provincial land use and land cover assessment for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
• Used remote sensing and GIS to classify land cover and run spatial analysis.
• Helped prepare the geospatial datasets, maps, and technical outputs the planning team needed.
• Contributed to interpreting the data and writing it up for land use planning purposes.

Paid Intern – Disaster Risk Management & GLOF Preparedness - District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) - Hunza, Pakistan

(2019-01 - 2019-10)

• Supported the disaster response team during the Shishper Glacier GLOF event in Hunza.
• Prepared GIS maps to track glacier change and monitor hazards.
• Went out into the field for risk assessments, documentation, and coordinating with the community.
• Worked alongside AKAH and the UNDP GLOF Project on community awareness and preparedness efforts.
• Fed into local disaster preparedness planning for glacier hazards affecting vulnerable communities.

District Mobilizer - Women Excellence and Power Initiative (USAID) - Hunza, Pakistan

(2015-07 - 2016-05)

• Ran training sessions focused on building women's capacity, as part of a six-month USAID project.
• Designed and delivered training modules on community development, awareness, and skills.
• Mobilized local women and got them engaged and participating.
• Worked with stakeholders to push women's empowerment and inclusion forward.
• Tracked how the training was landing and fed that into project reporting.

Master's - Geo-Environmental Conservation and Sustainable Management - Centre for Integrated Mountain Research, University of the Punjab (2020-10 - 2022-08)

Bachelor - Mountain Conservation & Watershed Management - CIMR, University of the Punjab (2016-10 - 2018-07)

Bachelor of Arts - Karakoram International University (2014-01 - 2016-09)