Bampen (Aew) is the research coordinator for the Eco-Culture Study Group, a community-based organization that focuses on ecology and health equity in local communities, particularly those affected by the environmental, social, and health impacts of mining. As an anthropologist, she seeks ways to enhance community participation and social engagement in restoring the health of social-ecological systems. She has helped introduce community-led approaches to social-ecological system and health restoration, along with other trust-based practices aimed at ensuring both people and ecosystems can heal while promoting greater equity in restoration processes.

Aew enjoys writing about environmental health and social justice, drawing on both her own fieldwork and the research of others. She has authored several books and news reports that document the history of health injustice in Thailand’s mining industry and highlight the urgent need for social-ecological system and health restoration. She is also involved in projects advocating for the protection of human rights in the context of natural resource extraction industries in Thailand.

In addition, she founded HomDokHung, a community-based organization dedicated to preserving native rice varieties. Aew hopes that her EI fellowship experience will allow her to learn diverse cooperative approaches to social-ecological and health restoration.

Together with three other Thai fellows from the 2022 cohort — Alisa Hasamoh, Bampen Chaiyarak, Ittinat Seeboonruang, and Ada Chairapaisarnkul — she co-founded the Restorative Culture Coalition Thailand (RCCT) to advance restoration missions.