Minh Nguyen is one of Conservation Nation’s 2022 emerging conservationist grant winners. She was born near the Annamite Mountain Range, a biodiversity hotspot that runs along the border of Vietnam, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), and a small section of Cambodia. While her interest in nature began in her homeland, various wildlife programs in the United States, Europe, and Africa motivated her to pursue a career in wildlife conservation.
Minh received a master’s degree in ecology at the University of Science, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and is pursuing a Ph.D. in fish, wildlife, and conservation biology at Colorado State University. As a research associate at the Saola Foundation, she assists in the intensive search for one of the rarest species of antelope in the world: the Saola of the Annamite Mountains—also known as the Asian unicorn. Minh is also highly devoted to creating a long-term conservation program for a primitive deer species: the critically endangered large-antlered muntjac. Her conservation work has instilled in her a sense of commitment to help those from younger generations find their purpose and apply their talents to wildlife conservation work.
Conserving the Critically Endangered Large-antlered Muntjac
Minh’s project will focus on decreasing the number of snares used to trap critically endangered large-antlered muntjacs in the Annamite Mountains in the Nakai-Nam Theun National Park and Khoun Xe-Nongma National Protected Area in Laos. Minh aims to determine how many snares muntjacs can tolerate in their environment to avoid local extinction by researching their movement ecology via satellite telemetry collars and collecting data on snare-setting behavior by poachers. She also plans to build awareness of conservation issues in the area by involving local community members in safely capturing and monitoring muntjacs for her project. This grant, and the support provided by local stakeholders in Laos, will help Minh overcome barriers related to funding, governmental regulations, and logistics. Ultimately, she hopes her project will inform more effective forest patrol strategies and help her achieve her lifelong dream of protecting the wildlife of the Annamite Mountains.
