Peng Kui, Ph.D., is the manager for Global Environment Institute (GEI)’s Ecosystem Conservation & Community Development Program. Currently, the team is conducting the groundbreaking research and pilot projects for community agreement protection, ecosystem-service-oriented economic development and national park system in the western regions of China such as Sanjiangyuan, Ningxia, Sichuan and Inner Mongolia, and Myanmar and other Southeast Asian countries.

He received a bachelor’s degree in agronomy from Sichuan Agricultural University in 1998 and a master’s degree in agronomy from the Chengdu Institute of Mountain Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2001. He earned his PhD degree in ecology from the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2005, and conducted postdoctoral research in landscape ecology at the University of Maryland in the United States. In 2007, he returned to China to enter full-time teaching and research work in the Department of Ecology, University of Science and Technology Beijing. In 2013, he made the transition to the non-profit sector and joined GEI. 

Dr. Peng has extensive experience in ecological and environmental science, regional sustainable development planning, GIS and remote sensing applications and other aspects of specialized research. Eager to share insight and inspire the next generation of environmental leaders, Dr. Peng served as an assistant researcher at the University of Maryland, Berkshire, technical consultant of the United States Global Mining Survey Operations Center, Associate Professor and other professional positions of Beijing University of Science and Technology. Widely published, Dr. Peng has participated in the preparation of 3 monographs, published more than 20 academic papers in China and abroad, including 10 theses for SCI and EI.

Under his leadership, GEI’s conservation work has won the Ford Motor Environmental Awards 2008 and 2013, the 2008 World Bank China Development Market Lenovo Innovation Award and the 2017 SEE Ecology Award. He has spoken at World Bank, Woodrow Wilson Center, Conservation International, Yale University, and other world-class institutions.