Rongkun Liu

Mr. Rongkun Liu is currently a PhD student of environmental social sciences in the School of Environment and Natural Resources at The Ohio State University. His research interests encompass mountain ecology, land use and land cover changes, hazard management, and coupled human and natural systems in mountain environments, particularly the Himalayas. At present, he is looking into theoretical frameworks for analyzing contested natural, human and institutional landscapes in the upper Koshi River basin of eastern Nepal. Previously, Rongkun worked for five years in the Himalayan region on environmental conservation and community development with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) based in Kathmandu, Nepal, as well as the Pendeba Society of the Tibet Autonomous Region. He also worked with the Mekong Institute in Thailand, Yunnan Provincial Environmental Protection Department in China and the World Resources Institute in the US. Rongkun holds a bachelor’s in international relations from Peking University, and a master’s in global environmental policy from American University in Washington, DC. He is an avid nature explorer and world traveler, enjoying casual and meaningful encounters with nature, people and their stories.