Dr. Tuyeni Heita Mwampamba stands as a distinguished African ecologist whose work has profoundly shaped sustainable energy research in the Global South. She currently serves as Africa Director of Science at The Nature Conservancy, a position she assumed in April 2024, where she leads strategic scientific initiatives across the continent. Previously, Dr. Mwampamba held a tenured research professorship at the Institute for Ecosystems and Sustainability Research at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, where she founded and led the Ecology and Social Dimensions of Community Forestry Laboratory. A native Tanzanian trained as an ecologist at the University of California Davis, she brings over two decades of international experience bridging her cultural background with advanced ecological and social science methodologies.
For more than twenty years, Dr. Mwampamba has pioneered integrated approaches to understanding the social and ecological dimensions of charcoal production systems across Mexico and East Africa, challenging conventional narratives about this essential energy source. Her research has been instrumental in demonstrating how sustainability can be conceptualized and operationalized by diverse actors throughout the charcoal value chain, with her work cited over 3,600 times according to Google Scholar. Dr. Mwampamba's 'unapologetically pro-charcoal' perspective has catalyzed important shifts in how conservation organizations view energy access for urban populations in developing nations. She has developed innovative frameworks that measure both ecological impacts and social justice outcomes, revealing pathways to make charcoal production more sustainable while preserving livelihoods for millions. This work has significantly influenced environmental and energy policies across multiple African nations and informed international conservation strategies.
As a 2022 Earth Leadership Fellow and Coordinating Lead Author for the IPBES Values and Valuation Assessment, Dr. Mwampamba has become a pivotal figure in decolonizing conservation science and integrating indigenous research methodologies into mainstream ecological practice. She currently serves as president-elect of the Association for Tropical Ecology and Conservation while having been a former adjunct professor at Emory University, demonstrating her commitment to both academic and practical applications of her research. Dr. Mwampamba is increasingly focused on addressing knowledge integration challenges in socioecological research and expanding stakeholder participation in environmental decision-making processes. Her leadership at The Nature Conservancy represents a strategic alignment of her expertise with global conservation efforts, where she continues to develop solutions that work for both people and nature within the essential woodfuel sector.
