Dr. Pentile Thong holds a Ph.D. in Forestry from Mizoram University, supported by the INSPIRE Fellowship, and brings over a decade of research experience spanning ecosystem restoration, forest carbon dynamics, and climate resilience. She has authored about 20 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters. At Landstack, her work brings together traditional ecological knowledge, community governance, and indigenous land management to advance equitable, place-based approaches to biodiversity conservation and community-led Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) across India’s tribal-dominated regions. Her work is grounded in the understanding that community stewardship sustains not only ecosystems, but also livelihoods and culture and that recognising traditional institutions and communities as legitimate custodians of land and knowledge is central to shaping climate resilience and contributing meaningfully to global climate action.With nearly eight years of research experience, Pentile has contributed to key projects with leading organizations, including the North East Space Applications Centre (NESAC), NRMC Centre for Land Governance, Foundation for Ecological Security (FES), and the Department of Forestry at Mizoram University. She has also been involved in assessing the ecological and socio-economic benefits of introducing native species in restoration initiatives. Her work on Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) and forest carbon markets has focused on designing a conceptual information framework to make PES systems more accessible and beneficial for commons and communities. As part of this effort, she assisted in developing a Stewardship Assessment Toolkit, which provides evidence of community stewardship—including effective ecosystem care, adaptive knowledge systems, and governance practices—that contribute to significant socio-ecological outcomes and enhanced biodiversity-rich landscapes.

Beyond her research endeavours, Pentile actively engages in building partnerships with  organizations and institutions across Northeast India, fostering collaboration to collectively build greater evidence for forwarding community-centric solutions and championing the vision of stewardship in forestry and agroecology systems.

Driven by the increasing urgency of global environmental challenges, Pentile is committed to bridging the decarbonization gap by developing transparent, equitable, and community-centered carbon accounting methodologies that enhances the capacity of local communities and foster equitable benefit-sharing. When not working, she enjoys exploring forests and preparing traditional ethnic dishes from Northeast India with indigenous ingredients.