Brian Buma was an invited keynote speaker at the European Geosciences Union Galileo series conference, held in October 2019 in Kathmandu, Nepal.  His talk, entitled "Do plants matter?", was related to the massive occurrence of landslides in the region, which kill hundreds to thousands each year and dramatically alter the ecology of the region.  As part of the trip, the group toured earthquake impacted areas along the Nepalese and Chinese border, mass landslide zones, and agricultural/forest development areas in conjunction with Nepalese scientists.