Tungalag Ulambayar

Dr. Tungaa Ulambayar works as a Country Director of the Mongolia Representative Office, Zoological Society of London. She holds a Ph.D. in Rangeland Ecosystem Science from Colorado State University, USA. Her research has focused on the effectiveness of community-based rangeland conservation in Mongolia, including factors essential for herders’ adaptation to climate change, resilience to climatic uncertainties, and sustainable management of rangeland ecosystems. Tungaa’s dissertation won the “Outstanding Dissertation Award” of the Warner College of Natural Resources, CSU.

Tungaa obtained her MA degree in International Development at the International University of Japan. Throughout her career, she worked in various managerial and consultancy positions at international organizations based in Mongolia, including the United Nations Development Programme, EU Tacis Programme, World Bank, and The Nature Conservancy. Tungaa was one of the pioneering Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) facilitators in Mongolia for developing community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) from the 1990s. As a UNDP Environment Team Leader, Tungaa played a crucial role in setting the legal environment for CBNRM by amending the Law on Environment Protection.

She also worked as an Advisor to the Minister of Environment and Tourism of Mongolia and led green and sustainable development planning for Mongolia's capital city and several provinces.