LEO NYEIN ZAW KO

A conservation leader with 4 years of experience in leading activism campaigns, citizen science research projects, and communicating conservation science to the general public. Initially a quantitative consumer research analyst at the Nielsen Company, I used marketing and communications skills to lead a successful 'Save Irrawaddy Dolphin' Campaign in Myanmar. This campaign kickstarted my conservation career as an environmental activist, and I have transitioned to work at the intersection of social science and data analytics to drive social marketing for nature-positive behaviour change. In 2022, I became the first and only person from Myanmar to gain admission and win a scholarship from the renowned Masters in Conservation Leadership at the University of Cambridge. I graduated with a Distinction, and my Master's thesis on 'Communicating Nuanced and Controversial Environmental Topics on Social Media' received the 'Best Distinction-level Project Report Prize' from the Department of Geography.

During my studies at Cambridge, I became increasingly interested in financial incentive-based conservation approaches that align business processes with nature-positive outcomes. Currently, I am working as a Research Associate (Continuing Training and Education) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Centre for Nature-based Climate Solutions. I curate and facilitate training courses and workshops for executive education under the ‘Continuing Education & Training’ programme, mostly focused on enterprise sustainability, decarbonisation strategies, and nature conservation.

It all started with this voluntary consumer research survey on dolphin watching tour in Myanmar.

Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) (MYANMAR)

Voluntary Citizen Science Research - Ecotourism

Developed a questionnaire and conducted a survey (n = 150) on consumer attitudes, opinions, and expectations regarding dolphin-watching tours in Myanmar.
Discovered clear insights to pinpoint several reasons why dolphin tours were not popular among locals.

I have a combination of two relevant experiences that are widely applicable to social marketing and behavioural change.

The Nielsen Company

Quantitative Analyst, Consumer Insight

Applied rigourous scientific methodologies to conduct customized research to discover new insights on advertisement concepts, marketing material designs, product user experience, brand equity, marketing communication, and messaging.

Save Irrawaddy Dolphins Campaign

Founder and Campaign Director at Nature Advocacy

Successfully led conservationists, media professionals, influencers, opinion leaders, and other relevant stakeholders in the "Save Irrawaddy Dolphins" to save critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphins in Myanmar.

Concentrated mainly in the FMCG sector, conducting customized research to discover novel consumer insights on products, advertisement concept tests, usage and attitude surveys, and eye-tracking studies.

Serviced a major client who accounted for nearly 1/3 of the revenue of the consumer insights division.
Identified areas where consumer data can help solve my client's business problem or build brand equity.
Adapted established scientific testing methods into the step-by-step product, concept, and advertisement testing protocols to test several new product recipes among core consumer segments, allowing my client to switch to a new raw material manufacturer in 4 product lines and improve profit margin without any drawbacks on its market share.
Conducted Myanmar's first-ever "Eye-tracking" research on new packaging designs and won the 'Simply Excellent' award for exemplary work for that quarter. By using the collected data, my client facelifted 5 of its best-performing product lines and launched one new sub-brand with the new package design.

Achieved social media outreach of 1M+, collected more than 20,000, and submitting a petition to the Myanmar President's Office.

Collaborated with WWF, FFI, BANCA, and other CSOs and private organizations to convene "Save Irrawaddy Dolphins Week", a nationwide media campaign in November 2020. The event reached several million social media users in Myanmar while receiving extensive local and international press coverage.

Achievements

"Simply Excellent" award for successfully conducting Myanmar's first-ever consumer eye tracking research on a packaging design (Aug 2017)

Achievements

Featured as a "Planet Hero" by WWF-Myanmar (Nov 2020)

Won a Grant from Young Southeast Asia Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) to research 'Cooperative Fishing' (Jun 2021)

After leaving my home country, I have involved in several conservation projects in the Asia Pacific and gained significant RESEARCH EXPERIENCE.

WWF- Singapore

Cyber-spotting to collect data on Illegal Wildlife Trade

This voluntary citizen science project required compiling data from popular online e-commerce sites to spot advertisements and sale posts on wild animal parts and products from CITES- Appendix I listed endangered species (Big cats, Elephants, Rhino, Sea Turtle, Pangolin). In one month, I documented more than 100 online illegal trading posts, which were removed.

Wild Otters Research (India)

Conservation Internship - Camera trapping

Conducted literature review on biology, behaviour, and conservation of smooth-coated otters.

Analyzed over 300 camera trap footages to create an ethogram of smooth-coated otters from Charao, Goa and discovered them to be more diurnal.

Success in individual research works led to conservation research PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP roles

Wildlife Spotting on Social Media (Malaysia)

Research Project Funded by the University of Nottingham - a peer-reviewed paper submitted for publication

Spearheaded a team of 7 volunteers and interns for a summer research project to investigate the prevalence of wildlife posts on major social media channels.

Documented more than 5700 wildlife sightings and trading entries in Malaysia, proving social media to be an effective tool for such monitoring applications.

Promoting Eco-friendly Behaviour through Digital Escape Room

Research Project Funded by the National Geographic Society

Collaborated with Dr Cedric Tan (University of Nottingham) and Dr Ran Peleg (University of Southampton) to design and build a Digital escape room and use it as a tool for teaching and communicating conservation to a general audience.

Led a group of 5 researchers to conduct a controlled study on playing dynamics and message framing with 200 subjects to measure the effectiveness of our game at inspiring behavioural change in players.

I won a Scholarship to study at the National University of Singapore

Master of Science in Environmental Management (2022)

Shell MEM Scholarship

My dissertation research project on Human-Wildlife Conflicts in Singapore won the Shell Best Dissertation Award from the University

Explored human-macaque conflict drivers, field challenges, and other conservation concerns by conducting 15 qualitative interviews among representative members of the Macaque Working Group (MWG) and other pertinent stakeholders.

Leading to a Freshwater Conservation Internship at Conservation International (CI-Singapore)

Conservation International Singapore

Freshwater Health Data Analytic Internship - Peer-reviewed Paper Submitted for Publication

Analyzed 3,000+ river and stream flow records by incorporating methodologies from two most prevalent hydrologic indicators to improve CI's web-based Freshwater Health Index (FHI).

Then, I won another scholarship to study at the University of Cambridge

MPhil in Conservation Leadership (2023)

Silverstrand Scholarship - Selwyn College

Competing Chevening Scholarship offer from the UK Government

Featured as a finalist at 'Study A Master in Europe Award' by www.educations.com

The first and only person from Myanmar to gain admission from this course at the University of Cambridge.

During the course, I undertook three conservation communications/marketing roles in the UK.

Communicating Science to Policy Makers through Summary for Policymakers (SPM)

Communicating Nuance and Uncertainty in Conservation Science to a General Audience on Social Media

Social Media Officer to Help People Find Opportunities in Nature Conservation

Collaborated with four other students to create a guideline to effectively communicate scientific data and findings from technical reports, produced by the National Ecosystem Assessment (NEA) initiative, to pertinent policy stakeholders through Summaries for Policymakers (SPM).

Interviewed 10 stakeholders to refine WCMC's existing science communication tools and strategy. Our guideline is recommended to country partners at 14 partner developing countries in the UNEP-WCMC's NEA initiative.

A four-month professional placement exploring effective ways to communicate nuance and uncertainty in conservation science to the general public through BTO's social media channels.

Concept testing of communication materials with internal and external stakeholders within and outside of conservation field.

Led 3 volunteers to revamp design templates for different categories of communication products posted on CC's social media channels. The new designs enhanced outreach and engagement rates and improved CC's brand visibility

Created 4 conservation work opportunity posts per week for CC's social media channels.

Professional Certifications

Project Management for Wildlife Conservation (WILDTEAM, UK) Jun 2021 - Present

Strategy Development for Wildlife Conservation (WILDTEAM, UK) Jun 2021 - Present

Currently, I am working as a Research Associate at NUS.

See my profile here

Research Associate (Continuing Education and Training)

Curate and facilitate executive education training programme in enterprise sustainability, decarbonisation strategies, and nature conservation

My research focus is on science communication and message-framing methodologies that 1) mainstream and popularise conservation financing tools, such as nature-based solutions, nature-performance bonds, and carbon/biodiversity credits, and 2) innovate pedagogical methods for course delivery and capacity building in executive education.

However, I am not a conservationist by training, I studied Engineering and project management with during my undergraduate years.

BUCKNELL UNIVERSITY - USA

Dual Degree in B.S Biomedical Engineering & Bachelor of Management (2013)

Biomimicry Research on Byssal Threads of Marine Bysus [Jun 2010 - Aug 2011]

Byssal threads of Mytilus galloprovincialis that inhabit tidal planes have evolved to have a property called 'Stress Softening' to prevent the main body from crashing against the rocks under violent conditions. Rapid pulling and straining of the thread can stiffen them significantly. These threads were harvested from the living specimens and induced stress softening under the microscope to map local strains to understand this property. This research project was selected for two research poster Presentations at the Natoinal Biomedical Engineering Conference (BMES - US) [2011, 2012]

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