Faculty and Staff

Kuenga Wangmo, PhD

Kuenga Wangmo, PhD

Title
Lecturer in Political and Socioeconomic Dimensions of Environment
Education
Ph.D. in Archeology
University of Cambridge (U.K.)
Masters of Philosophy in World Archeology
University of Cambridge (U.K.)
B.A. in Social Anthropology and Archeology
Harvard University (Boston, MA, USA)
Back to All Staff
about

Faculty Profile

Kuenga Wangmo is an anthropologist and Bhutan’s first archaeologist. She has worked on sites in Bhutan, India, and the United States. She was a post-doc research fellow at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London, and is passionate about the conservation of heritage and nature, and more recently in exploring the complex intersections between development and conservation. She has an undergraduate degree from Harvard University and post-graduate degrees from Cambridge University and The Courtauld Institute of Art. Kuenga is a National Geographic Explorer. She proudly calls Thimphu her home.

Academics & Research

Research Interests

  • Archaeology
  • Science and story telling
  • Environmental education
  • Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research practices, especially in climate change, disaster preparedness, and management
  • Rural livelihoods
  • Traditional Ecological Knowledge
  • Ethnobotany
  • Sacred landscapes
  • Gross National Happiness (GNH)
  • Tourism

Professional Activities

Board Director, VAST

Board Director, Peldrukdraling Foundation

Member, Research Degree Committee, Royal University of Bhutan

outputs

Publications

Bhutan's Farsighted Resilience in the Initial Period of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Through the Lens of Gross National Happiness.

Verma, R & Wangmo, K. 2021. Journal of Bhutan Studies, Vol. 42 Wangmo, K. 2019. Culture and its Representations. India-Bhutan: Friendship Through the Decades and Beyond (p.93-106). New Delhi. Ritinjali

Editor, 2022. Senge Dzong. Nima Rangshar Publishing House, Trashigang
Editor, 2023. Journal of the Bhutan Ecological Society, Issue 5