Erdenetuya Urtnast is a lecturer of ethnology, anthropology, Manchu written language, and classical Mongolian script in the Department of Mongolian History at the Mongolian State University of Education in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Her research interests include ethnic history; translation and transliteration of Manchu and classical Mongolian handwritten texts; environmental anthropology with special focuses on “traditional” approaches to environmental conservation of the Mongols; and urban ecology and issues related to climate change and its impacts on Mongolian history. She has published a monograph, several brochures, and over twenty research papers. Erdenetuya graduated from the National University of Mongolia with a BA in textology and Manchu study, and obtained an MA in ethnology. She received her PhD from the Mongolian State University of Education in history and has worked at, among others, the University of Cambridge, the University of British Columbia, the University of Montreal, and the European University in Saint Petersburg as a visiting fellow and a visiting scholar. Erdenetuya has participated in conferences, seminars and workshops in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, the Russian Federation, Hungary, China, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. She has implemented several joint and individual research projects founded by the Central Asia Research and Training Initiative (CARTI), OSI, the Community of Research and Exploration, NGS, and other local funding organizations. Her current research focuses on “Indigenous” Ecological Knowledge and Eco-friendly Technologies. Erdenetuya was a Carson Fellow from September 2012 to August 2013, and returned to the RCC as a Visiting Fellow in November 2013.
RCC Research project: Environmental Conservation among the Residents of Eastern Mongolia
Previous Project: “Folk” Knowledge and Experiences for Environmental Conservation of the Mongols (PDF, 17kb)
Film Interview with Erdenetuya Urtnast
Lunchtime Colloquium Video - Environmental Knowledge and Conservation of the Mongols
Selected Publications
- Traditions for Environmental Conservation of the Mongols (monograph), edited by A. Ochir. Ulaanbaatar, 2009. (In Mongolian)
- “Climate Change Impacts on Mongolian History.” In Meta-Theoretical and Empiric Issues during Historical Cognitive Process and the Modernity, 99–112. Ulaanbaatar, 2004. (In Mongolian)
- “Prohibitions and Taboos During an Oboo Worship Ceremony.” Mongolian Journal of Archaeology, Anthropology, and Ethnology 1, no. 1 (2005): 125–131.
- “Rural-Urban Migration and Ecosystem Degradation (In Case of Ulaanbaatar city).” Acta Historica Mongolici 9, no. 11 (2008): 89–97.
- “Environmental Conservation among the Residents of Eastern Mongolia.” Acta Historica Mongolici 11, no. 8 (2010): 61–75.