Team

Nawang is the Founder and Executive Director at the Bhutan Ecological Society. He is also Center Director of the Center for Climate and Sustainable Futures, a collaborative research and education initiative between the School for Field Studies in the US, the Royal University of Bhutan and the BES. Recently, he helped craft Bhutan’s RNR Strategy 2030, and also drafted, in collaboration with the Royal Government and the FAO, the national pathways to transform Bhutan’s food systems. Nawang is committed to building a just and verdant world and continues to explore the drivers and consequences of development and change.

As Director for Research and Education at the Bhutan Ecological Society, Sonam oversees and provides leadership for all research and education programs at BES. He also serves as Program Manager at the Center for Climate and Sustainable Futures in Paro – an international environmental field program jointly hosted by the BES, Royal University of Bhutan/College of Natural Resources, and the School for Field Studies (SFS), Massachusetts, USA.

Prior to joining BES, Sonam was Senior Forestry Officer at the Ugyen Wangchuck Institute for Conservation and Environmental Research (UWICER) and served as District Forestry Officer under the Department of Forest and Park Services. Sonam has extensive working experience promoting community based natural resource management programs.

He has a master’s degree in forestry science from the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.  Sonam explores linkages between community-based forest management practices and their impacts on livelihoods and poverty reduction. He is also keen on understanding the impacts of climate change on forest ecosystems and rural livelihoods.

Norbu is the Director for Forest & Water Program at the Society. Additionally, he also serves a Faculty at the Center for Climate and Sustainable Futures (CCFS), School for Field Studies in Paro, Bhutan.

Norbu has a Doctorate in Natural Resources and Life Sciences from the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences (BOKU) in Vienna, Austria.

Norbu is interested to explore innovative solutions to address the challenges of climate change and natural resource management in Bhutan and beyond.

Sonam has a bachelor’s degree in electrical Engineer from College of Science and Technology (Bhutan) and has over seven years of experience working as a Senior Engineering/Planning Head in Bhutan Power Corporation Ltd.. While her initial career took off as a planning engineer, over time she found herself drawn to wildlife conservation, sustainable resource management, and climate change studies and therefore decided to pursue her newly acquired passion. Sonam pursued Masters of Science (Msc.) in Statistics and Data Analytics with specialty in BioAnalytics at the University of Arkansas (Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA). Much of her graduate research experience focused on studying the habitat use and ecology of the iconic and IUCN red listed Golden Mahseer (Tor putitora) as well as other migratory fish species occupying Himalayan rivers. As such, she has a experience and training both in research design and implementation, as well as in the domains of environmental science, biology and data science.

Beyond numbers and data, she is an avid movie watcher who loves to spend time with her family.

Namgay works at the intersection of climate action, policy and diplomacy, and is passionate about how it must translate to improving livelihoods on the ground. Namgay is also a Global Shaper and a Climate Reality Leader. She studied sociology and global economic development at the National University of Singapore.

Mr. Namgyel Wangdi currently works under the Department of Landscapes for Enterprise, Agriculture and Forest. Prior to joining the Society, he worked as an intern under the Forest Protection and Enforcement Division of the Department of Forest and Park Services, Ministry of Agriculture and Forest.

He received his B.Sc degree in the field of Forestry form the University of the Philippines, Los Banos. His keen interest in research includes forest ecology, environmental forestry and climate change.

Mr. Ugyen heads the Administration & Finance department for the Bhutan Ecological Society. He holds a certificate in General Forestry & Conservation from Bhutan Forestry Institute, Thimphu. Prior to Joining the society in 2017, he worked as a research field assistant with the Ugyen Wangchuck Institute for Conservation and Environmental Research for nine years. Ugyen also served Thrurmshingla National Park (MOAF, DoFPS), Bumthang as Assistant Forester from 2004-2009. He holds a firm interest in wildlife conservation. Mr. Ugyen is a recipient of Royal Civil Service Awards from His Majesty 5^th King in 2015.

Mrs. Kinley Dema is the Assistant Administrative and PA to the Director for Bhutan Ecological Society, based in Thimphu. Before joining Bhutan Ecological Society, she worked as an Administrative Support staff at Thrumshingla National Park, DoFPS from 2001 to 2011 and later on she joined Ugyen Wangchuk Institute for Conservation and Environmental Research under the same department from 2012 to 2017 as an Administrative support staff. During her 17 years service to the Government, she worked with dedication to serve the Druk Tas wa Sum.

Jigme Tshelthrim Wangyal (born in 1975) is a doctoral student at the School of Environment and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia. A pioneer in Bhutanese herpetology, he has been associated with the study of reptiles and amphibians of Bhutan since 2008. He has an M.Sc, in Biodiversity, Wildlife and Ecosystem Health from the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom, and advocates the use of citizen science to understand the mostly unexplored herpetofauna of the Kingdom of Bhutan. He joined the Bhutan Ecological Society (BES) in July 2021 as a Research Fellow after serving the Department of Forest and Park Services for two and half decades. He assists BES with applied and basic research in the conservation and management of natural resources.