Nanako Aoyama joined UNU-IAS in June 2022 as a Programme Assistant for the Strategy and Management Office (SMO).

She holds a BA in the French Language and an MA in Environmental Studies from Sophia University in Tokyo. While studying abroad in 2011, she learned of the Great East Japan Earthquake and was inspired to begin her career as a public high school teacher in Miyagi Prefecture where she taught English and Education for International Understanding. She has also served as a consultant for Japan’s Official Development Assistance in the Republic of Cameroon, and managed projects and communications at the Global Environment Centre Foundation in Tokyo. Influenced by her satoyama upbringing, Nanako hopes to contribute to creating a peaceful and sustainable society in which human beings live in harmony with nature and people from different backgrounds understand each other.