Pentile Thong is a Research Associate at Landstack, specializing in forest ecology and carbon accounting. She holds a Ph.D. in Forestry from Mizoram University and is a recipient of the INSPIRE Fellowship for her doctoral research. Additionally, she has expanded her technical expertise through specialized training in Remote Sensing and GIS, research methodology, and data analysis. Her research interest includes fallow restoration, net ecosystem productivity (NEP) and carbon dynamics in forest ecosystems, vulnerability and risk assessment, and Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLC) governance and knowledge inclusion in Nature-based Solutions (NbS). Pentile has published about 15 peer-reviewed research papers and 1 book chapter, contributing to discourse on dynamics of shifting cultivation, species diversity, ecosystem restoration, population ecology, and climate resilience.

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.