Ms. Evonne Yiu is a researcher of the UNU-IAS International Satoyama Initiative, working towards promoting the global effort to realise societies in harmony with nature through the revitalization and sustainable management of “socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes” (SEPLS) for biodiversity and human well-being.
Based at UNU-IAS in Tokyo, her research focus also includes FAO’s Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) initiative, for which she has assisted the designation of several GIAHS sites in Japan and Korea. Ms. Yiu is a key research member of several project teams including Agrodiversity and Sustainability and an UNU-IAS joint project with the Rural Development Administration of the Republic of Korea on Introduction of technologies on characteristic analysis and conservation management in Agricultural Heritage Systems. She is also a participating researcher in the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN) funded project on “Sustainable mangrove rehabilitation for global and local benefits” coordinated by the University of the Philippines Los Banos in cooperation with the Forest Research Institute (Myanmar) and Jawaharlal Nehru University (India). Additionally, she has been appointed as Fellow to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Values Assessment (2018-2021). Her past UNU-IAS research projects included Developing a Comprehensive Assessment Method for Ingenious “Agri-Cultural” Systems in Japan (ACS) (FY2012-2014) and Monitoring and Evaluation Method for Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Use through Multi-stakeholders Governance (FY2015-2017).
Ms. Yiu is also a researcher with the UNU-IAS Operating Unit Ishikawa / Kanazawa (OUIK), focusing on policy making for the sustainable development of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, and rural revitalization. Her research interests include the socio-economic interconnectedness of satoyama and satoumi (SEPLS), as well as related ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation. She is also the lead researcher for OUIK “Noto’s Satoumi Movement”.
Ms. Yiu is a Singaporean citizen, fluent in English, Mandarin and Japanese. She is obtained her PhD from the Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, specializing in global fisheries studies. She took a Masters Degree in Public Policy from the Graduate School of Public Policy, The University of Tokyo, as a Japanese government scholarship (MEXT) recipient in 2012. She has a Bachelor of Arts with first class honors from the National University of Singapore, having double majored in Japanese Studies and Psychology.
Prior to coming to Tokyo, Ms. Yiu worked with the Ministry of Transport Singapore as Assistant Director of International Relations, where she represented Singapore on international transport initiatives at many international forums such as APEC, ASEAN and ICAO etc. She also served on the Miyazaki City Board of Education and Miyazaki Prefecture Government as Coordinator of International Relations under the Japan and Exchange Teaching (JET) programme.