ONON Bayasgalan - How She Became Mongolia’s First Gates Cambridge Scholar at the University of Cambridge
Interviewed by Oyungerel Munkhbat, Photos by Suniko and Bolor-Erdene.
Get to know Onon Bayasgalan (Hobby: 1998-2001) who has become the first Gates Cambridge Scholar from Mongolia to study Conservation Leadership at the University of Cambridge. Previously, she worked on cashmere value chain project at the World Conservation Society; initiated Environmental Fellowship Program; and is known for her “Little Air” project against air pollution in Ulaanbaatar. Onon graduated from Whitman College and Yale University with full scholarships in environmental economics and environmental management respectively.
Full name: Onon Bayasgalan
Hobby Alumni: 2005
Sector: Environment
Higher Education: B.A in Environmental Economics at Whitman College, Master in Environmental Management (MEM) at Yale University, now M.Phil in Conservation Leadership at Cambridge University
Current Workplace: Student.
Past Workplace: Wildlife Conservation Society, Zorig Foundation, PA to the former Minister of Environment S.Oyun
Languages: Mongolian, English, a bit of Spanish, and a bit of Russian
Countries Lived In: Holland, UK, and USA
Frequented Website: CNN, Al Jazeera, Mongabay
App To Recommend: Memrise (language learning app), UB Info (news and services app), Countries Been (travel app)
3 Books To Recommend: Uninhabitable Earth, Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates, and books by Arundhati Roy. Her books 'Walking with the Comrades', 'The God of Small Things', 'The Ministry of Utmost Happiness' are really great.
3 Movies to Recommend: Swing Kids, Walk the Line, Captain Fantastic
“In high school, I did some translation work, which turned out to be about desertification. It was then that I became aware of environmental issues, specifically desertification. My eyes were opened.”
AT HOBBY SCHOOL
1. How many years have you studied at Hobby School and where have you studied before and after Hobby?
I was at Hobby from 1998 to 2001. Before Hobby, I was at school in Cambridge, UK. My father graduated Cambridge and I never thought I would be studying at Cambridge University one day. It was definitely unintentional.
When I moved to Mongolia, I got into Hobby and I didn’t know much of Mongolian. I remember my classmates making fun of my Mongolian and my British accent. After Hobby, I transferred to International School of Ulaanbaatar (“ISU”) for my 11th and 12th grade. At that time, ISU had announced a scholarship opportunity, so I received a 100% scholarship and graduated with an IB diploma.
2. What was the difference between them?
All of them taught me a lot. In UK, I read a lot. I learnt the joys of reading. At Hobby, I learnt discipline. We had many classes and we had to memorize a lot of things. I don’t mean it as a bad thing too, it was more of discipline really. At ISU, I had to work really, really hard. They were strict when it came to writing. Not only did they look at the content, but more of whether you were able to think critically and analyze. That’s what I learned at ISU.
3. What kind of a student were you?
I was a good student and very active. I was not a cool kid, but I actively participated in a lot of things.
4. Anything you would do differently if you went back to high school again?
I wouldn’t really flaunt that I was studious. I learnt what the teacher taught me and did it well. Now that I think about it, I wouldn’t care so much about grades and instead learn a lot outside of school, find and look at other sources and resources, and try a more independent approach.
At Hobby, my Mongolian improved a lot because we had a great teacher. My spelling and grammar is really good thanks to her. But I wish I had read more Mongolian literature. At that time, bookstores hadn’t really developed and I kept reading English books. If I had read Mongolian literature, I wouldn’t be facing some of the issues that I have today.
Photo by Bolor-Erdene
5. Do you read Mongolian literature now?
For every few English books, I try to read 1 Mongolian because I get through English books faster.
6. Fondest memory and favorite teacher?
We participated in a lot of talent shows because our principal is a cultured and artistic person. I remember participating in lots of dance performances although I don’t dance well. One year, we did this cowboy dance and I went completely off on stage and did a whole other routine [laughs].
As for teachers, I want to mention 2. Firstly, our Mongolian language teacher Khuukhmaa. She was wonderful, very strict.
“I found out that consistent teachers are good. Students respect consistent teachers because you know they will always react one way, so you understand the rules clearly. ”
My Mongolian vocabulary may not be so good but I learnt spelling and grammar very well from her. Also, when I was in 5th grade, we had a math teacher called Bayarjargal. I started enjoying math because of him. One time, he wrote on the board “4 = 5” and the children were like, “What are you talking about?”. He filled the board with this complicated math calculations, and proved that 4 equalled 5. That time, we were really amused and realized that math was really fascinating.
We also had a teacher called Jean Claude, he had a great sense of humor. I also really liked our English teacher, Sumiya, who now lives in New York. I realized that she was really young when she taught us, around 20 if I remember correctly. I admired her so much. I thought, “When I get older, I want to be just like her”. She was so positive and had a beautiful aura.
7. What influenced you to choose your university and major for undergraduate and master’s? Environment was not a popular subject in Mongolia at that time.
In high school, I did some translation work, which turned out to be about desertification. It was then that I became aware of environmental issues, specifically desertification. My eyes were opened. When we chose our majors at the end of our sophomore year at Whitman, environmental economics came intuitively. Even before I chose my major, I always thought it was the most interesting thing because I realized that nobody will appreciate nature if people don’t give value to it. At the time, I also thought it was a new field, that it was very important.
I applied to 4 or 5 universities and I chose Whitman College, which is a private liberal arts college. When I was in 8th grade, I met this Whitman College teacher who was in Mongolia with his students for research. He told me to consider Whitman, so it was etched in my mind that Whitman will be one of the schools I will be applying to.
Whitman was perfect for me. Back then, I was a bit worried because there were no Mongolians in Walla Walla, a small college town. I thought it might be boring because it was such a small town, but it cared a lot about its students. My school was a bit hippie, so it had lots of people doing environmental majors. Students are required to couple it with another discipline, so I chose economics, which was the most practical one. Others chose geology, biology, etc.
8. Where else did you apply to?
It’s very random [laughs]. Pomona college, UVA, and Princeton. When you’re young, you just apply to some universities you’ve heard about. Pomona for instance, was attended by my friend’s mother. UVA, one of my cousins lived there. Princeton, maybe I heard about it in a movie. All of them have very strange associations. So I think I got lucky with Whitman. They gave me a full scholarship.
9. For your master’s, you went to Yale?
I had known about the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies for a time. A Mongolian conservationist that I admired had gone to it before me, so it was definitely encouraging to know that he was admitted. I got a full scholarship at Yale.
10. What will you be studying now at Cambridge?
Master of Philosophy in Conservation Leadership. This is a 1 year program. The name may be too vague, but it’s about Conservation Enterprises, and how you can use market drivers as a tool to leverage conservation work and to incentivize local communities. It’s a holistic program, where it teaches conservation from all aspects such as management, communication, and even accounting.
The university calls the program “MBA for Conservationists”, which is cool. I’m not really interested in an MBA because it’s a bit too dry for me. On the other hand, I know is more effective when it works in partnership with the private sector and so I’m happy about this compromise.
11. How did you prepare for the scholarships and how did you find out about them? Did you apply elsewhere?
The Gates Cambridge Scholarship was a very rigorous process. In February or March, University of Cambridge notified me of my admission and I hadn’t heard anything from the financial aid department. I really wanted to go but it would’ve cost me 150 million MNT, or the like, for 1 year only.
During the application process of Cambridge, they asked me on Skype whether I wanted to be considered for a Gates Scholarship. I had known about this program for few years and I thought “I’ll try applying” and I did. I had to write a short essay in addition to my application essays and submit a reference. I didn’t apply anywhere else. My mentor sent me a great recommendation, which affected me a lot. Then Gates scholarship committee contacted me and 3 professors interviewed me.
“Because I had the time, I researched about the three professors and their research, about Cambridge, about Gates Cambridge Scholarship, and basically almost everything they could’ve possibly asked me. This helped me tremendously...”
…because what they wanted from me during the interview was: why Cambridge was special, why this program was special, why not MBA, and basically questions asking “why”. They didn’t want a person who just wanted a scholarship or just wanted to go to Cambridge.
The American system was a bit easier. Most of the scholarships are obtained from private donors, wealthy alumni or some fund. On the other hand, Cambridge (UK) seemed more rigorous, even having professors interview me. For this scholarship, you get chosen from 5,000 people. The cohort is 90. It’s very popular because it’s Bill Gates, but I didn’t know too much about it. It’s a very generous scholarship. The scholarship has such a generous stipend that there’s no need for you to work. If I ever worked, I have to have my salary deducted from the scholarship. So they don’t want you to work but dedicate all your time and effort into your studies.
Also, I felt as if this Conservation Leadership program was created just for me. It requires 5 years of experience in sustainable enterprise, and I have done exactly 5. They wanted someone with more work experience to mold these people, and give them more technical knowledge. This felt perfect for me. Also at this time exactly, I was ready for a change. When you work in 1 place for so long, you get fearful, you get boxed into your thinking, and you start seeing the smaller things and forget the bigger picture. Now I would get a break and have a chance to regain my focus and see the bigger picture.
12. How do the countries you’ve lived in differ?
I remember little from Holland, because I was little. England felt very homey to me, the culture was nice.
America is a huge country, so I could feel the mass of the population, that I was a part of something big. Whitman though, despite being in a giant country, the campus had a very homey feel. Many staff in charge of the international students supported us, counseled us, and did some hand-holding. All of them were nice people, everyone was friendly.
As for Mongolia, the thing that distinguishes it from the others is that it’s very vibrant. You can never get bored in Ulaanbaatar. You face challenges daily. Everyday, something happens, life is bustling, something’s brewing. I like that. Honestly, I was very lucky to have been in such great communities for all of them.
13. You are the first Mongolian to become a Gates scholar - how does it feel?
Honestly, it was great! I was at Fat Cat Jazz Club when I received an email and it had become a dream almost. I was with my friend then and we celebrated. On one hand, I’m very happy that they trust me and have provided me a scholarship. I think they were also interested in the aspect of Mongolia, because my main topic was all about Mongolia.
“I wish more people would apply because I think a lot of people don’t know this Gates Cambridge Scholarship exists. I would also advise people to choose a topic that they are deeply passionate about. Otherwise if you say “I want to learn finance” or something of that sort, they won’t be interested. I felt that they were seeking people with inspiring stories. ”
Photo by Bolor-Erdene
CAREER
14. First paying job?
At Whitman, at their cafeteria, library, and as an economics tutor. I also interned for The Nature Conservancy Mongolia Program while in college. It gave me very valuable exposure to conservation in Mongolia.
If you count full-time job, I was the assistant of the then Member of Parliament S.Oyun. At that time, I got paid 180,000 MNT per month for a salary and 100,000 MNT for gym membership [laughs]. I think I survived because I lived with my parents.
15. You wear many different hats. Let’s start with the projects you have done and then move on to your job at World Conservation Society. The “Little Air” (Бяцхан Агаар) project is well known. Can you tell me more?
The air pollution in winter of 2016-2017 was especially felt by society in Ulaanbaatar. Many children were getting pneumonia, and the hospitals were overfilled. I remember a particularly polluted night when I came up with the idea. At that time, Parents Against Air Pollution protests had started and the public was going nuts. I thought, let’s channel this anger into action and based on my midnight passion, I wrote on a fundraising site called generosity.com that I wanted to disseminate 100 pieces of air purifiers.
Few days ago from it, I was inspired by a comment of then UNICEF Representative for Mongolia saying that the first most immediate and direct thing we can do right now is to improve our indoor air quality with air purifiers, especially in places with more kids. Before posting, I also thought that maybe I should develop the idea, polish it, and post it on the website the next day instead of making a fool of myself by posting this. But I also knew I wouldn’t do it. I knew the next morning, I would go to work, get consumed by my daily work activities, laugh at myself and leave it. So I posted it and shared it on my Facebook. Because crowdfunding wasn’t developed in Mongolia, I knew I had to have raised money by morning or else no one would take it seriously. So right at that moment, I wrote to 4 or 5 of my closest friends in the U.S., asking them if they could donate to this cause even if it was 1 dollar. When I woke up, almost 400 USD was raised. Thanks to that trust, it took momentum.
We raised money for 88 air purifiers. Although it was not a solution to the cause because it’s a huge issue, I hope it inspired people and somewhat popularized the crowdfunding concept here. Recently, a Mongolian version of that website was developed because most people don’t have USD accounts or foreign bank accounts to donate on foreign websites.
It was a 2 month campaign because I wanted to keep it short and sweet. In those 2 months, I’ve been more passionate than I’ve ever been in my life. My mind was only focused on how to reach the goal of 100 air purifiers.
Through it, I’ve met many great people, and I was flooded with support and good will from people. At one point, many people were actively involved.
“All Ministry of Environment staff dedicated their 1 day salary for this campaign (Бяцхан Агаар). It was very touching how people were donating even 1,000 MNT. Many strangers also donated. I gained more faith in humanity after it.”
Photo by Bolor-Erdene
16. Which of your projects are you most proud of?
Environmental Fellowship Program at Zorig Foundation. The person who trusted in me was Walter Jenkins. We started the program in 2011. Thanks to Walt and my colleagues, we were able to raise funding from Newcom and Xacbank for the first year. So it has taken on and is now continuing for the 10th year. I’m very proud of that because it has created many communities, many families, and many networks, and multiple collaborations have stemmed from it. So I’m happy.
17. Moving onto your work at World Conservation Society. You worked for 5 years on the Sustainable Cashmere project?
The project started based on the expertise and research of our inhouse scientists and experts. I focused on creating relationships and partnerships, networking and connecting people. Nowadays, sustainable cashmere is a hot topic but our project was maybe one of the first projects. We hope we have helped raise awareness about the issue. We work with 2 cooperatives in Umnugobi province. The herders are generally happy about their partnership with us.
In the Sustainable Cashmere Project, we had very diverse funders from a large mining company to a large fashion company. Another partner I should mention is the Natural Capital project at Stanford University. They got funding from NASA and are now working with us in the field of research. It’s a very interesting partnership with fashion, mining, conservation, and such. In this sense, I think this project is so unique. To think that this diverse group of organizations came together to work on a single project sparks something and earns more trust.
18. What was your end goal?
We chose 2 cooperatives and we conduct 14, 15 activities with them. Some are connected to wildlife conservation, some to sustainable pasture management, and some to livelihood improvement, which includes improving cashmere quality and animal welfare. We even brought them to the U.S. once and did a cheese factory tour, to show how they can create value added products. In other words, we work with them to retrieve and create more value added products from the livestock, beyond cashmere. It was very fulfilling and meaningful to work there. You always learn so much from them, it’s very humbling.
“Our end goal is for the market to be fully, sustainably operational without us - herders meeting the standards, getting certification, and selling their products at premium prices. ”
The crux of the project is creating a standard, a code of practice, by paying attention to pasture management. Those standards would eventually become a part of a certification scheme, which enable herders to sell their cashmere for more. Since we were intervening in the supply chain, we were not taken well by local middlemen. This is one of the biggest challenges of disrupting a supply chain.
19. What have you learnt from this process? It sounds as if the middlemen were the bad guys.
There are always risks we haven’t accounted for. Every year, we get new surprises.
On one hand, we shouldn’t see the middlemen as the enemy. When I meet these middlemen, they are also full of complaints saying they’re also bearing lots of risks to provide service and that no one's taking that into account. When you learn more about the supply chain, you truly understand the complexity of it. It’s hard to see any side as enemies, even the middlemen. But I know the service is inefficient and there’s much room for improvement and an opportunity to benefit all sides.
Too often, people view these projects to be akin to a business project that can be scaled easily. Community based projects are built on trust and human relationships that are sensitive and nuanced. Community based conservation is a slow process, and is not easily replicable. It varies greatly with the locality as well. Each community has their own style so you have to tailor them to each one and be smart and conscious.
Also, another important thing when working with communities is the fact that each community has a revered local who’s silently influential with or without a specific title. It’s important that you recognize who those people are, the group dynamics. The most interesting thing is that, some people have lived together since childhood and are best friends, but they don’t necessarily trust each other when it comes to money.
20. So how do herders respond to you telling them to decrease their livestock count?
You see mindsets change after maybe 2-3 years of discussions. We cannot go straight into conversations that affect their livelihoods without having the necessary discussions beforehand.
But I’ve had herders tell me that they end up spending all their income on their maintenance care, like feed and medication, even if they had a thousand livestock. So I tell them, “If it is not so profitable for you, what’s the point of having this many livestock? Instead, let’s do some calculations. If you had 500 livestock, your labour and spendings will decrease, and if you can work and sell smarter, you can profit”.
I sometimes worry that with this project, it’s as if we’re pushing them into a capitalist world. Maybe it’s better to leave them as is, where they don’t calculate the price of all things but on the other hand, it’s better that they’re educated as opposed to uneducated. Like the quote “you may not care about politics but politics cares about you”, the market reaches every aspect of the herder’s life so they have to know how to protect themselves.
If we talk about climate change, the future looks dim for Mongolia and even the world. It’s almost reaching a point where half the earth may eventually become uninhabitable. Herders and farmers are the most affected. Mongolian herders are very marginalized. Although they have this sense of pride, they’re completely at the hands of nature. In years with consecutive drought, there is no safety net for them. So Mongolian herders know they have to be smarter and become financially savvy and get out of this cycle living from loan to loan.
21. There’s a great deal of untapped knowledge with Mongolian herders. Can you share some of what you’ve learned from them?
In birthing seasons, herders don’t sleep for 1 to 2 months. Every night, they wake up with their alarm, visit their small open barn (“хот”) during the night because if the lambs or baby goats are born at night, they can freeze to death. They will visit the barn multiple times during the night. So that dedication is unheard of internationally. English farmers for instance won’t be doing that. Mongolian herders almost know each of their animals on an individual level, giving each a nickname. That level of intimacy is moving.
I’ll tell you the most moving story I have experienced. There was this one family which we collaborated well with. They were supposed to participate in our sales and had pledged to sell a big amount of cashmere, but didn’t come to the sales. The family had moved because that year, there was little rainfall and pasture was poor. When we tracked them down to inquire about their absence, we found that they were only thinking about keeping their livestock alive, cashmere and sales obviously wasn’t even of concern. While I went there a little bit disappointed, I was taken aback when I realized the dire situation. They were not living in the ger but sleeping on a felt piece without a rooftop and moving with their livestock for a month!
“The biggest misconception that Mongolian urban dwellers say is that herders are lazy. It is not so. They never sit unattended because simply, they have to survive. ”
22. A common misconception about your sector/job?
People try to mock me by saying we’re tree-huggers. Generally, people even question why we need conservation. Many people think that it's not a serious profession in comparison to other fields like finance. But on the contrary, every life depends on it. Unfortunately, so many intelligent people are still questioning the reality of climate change.
23. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I always care about Mongolia, and plan to work here. But I am flexible to working abroad for a short period of time.
Photo by Bolor-Erdene
PERSONAL
24. Mentors? How did you pick them as mentors?
Dr. Oyun Sanjaasuren and Walter Jenkins, both of whom I met while working. I also admire and get inspired by successful women, and especially from new organizations created by people from my generation, such as GerHub, Eco Town, UB Passport, Mongol Ecology Center, etc.
25. Life advice that helped you the most?
I think your mindset is the most important part, it’s how you look at things. I also think whatever energy you exude, you get that in return.
26. Work-life balance?
I’m really good at it. Ever since the beginning, I’ve prioritized my personal life. Of course there are cases where you would have to stay late at work but generally, I’m good at balancing. This is perhaps influenced by my exposure to American culture.
27. A personal advice you would like to extend to fellow Hobby Alumni?
I’m guessing most of them enjoy their work. But I would ask them to reconsider how meaningful and impactful their work is. A person can be hard working individually. But sometimes, it might be good to ask: How does what I do impact the society? Is everything I do about money? How can the impact be maximized?
28. A personal advice you would like to extend to current Hobby students?
When you’re learning, don’t be boxed into the textbook, but learn how it can be applied in real life and read about what’s happening about it currently. Also, volunteer a lot.
29. Good and bad habits?
Bad habit - a bit of a people-pleaser. I’m bad at saying no sometimes.
Good habit - passionate and a bit goal-oriented.
30. If you can pass 1 law globally, what would it be?
That children wouldn’t cheat on exams at school. I think that’s the root of all corruption.
31. If you can fix 1 problem in Mongolia, what would it be?
Resolve the air pollution crisis and increase the use of renewable energy substantially.
32. If you could have dinner with anyone dead or alive who would it be?
Chinggis Khan. We think we know him, but we are completely trusting the old historical texts and pictures that are probably tweaked.
33. Which 3 books influenced your life the most? Briefly explain why.
The Conquest of Happiness by Bertrand Russel- This book completely framed my idea of happiness throughout my life. I think it's a timeless piece, and I'm glad I read it early on as a teenager.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl- This is the first book I ever owned. I remember I couldn't read when it was first given to me, so I colored in the pictures. Eventually, my dad started reading it to me, and eventually, I could read it to myself. This book is incredibly rich with wisdom, creativity, and is also hard to put down.
Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell- Orwell writes about what it is like to be homeless in these large cities. He literally lives a homeless life to write this book. I found this book to be really powerful in showing the inner dialogue and thoughts of being homeless, and being such an outcast in society.
34. Any last comments before we wrap up?
Good job, Hobby School Alumni Association! 💛
35. Who would you recommend to interview next from Hobby Alumni? And Why?
Many of my classmates are already recommended and interviewed, so maybe from younger generations - Urin Bayarsaikhan (#HobbyAlumni 2013) and Ayush Bayarsaikhan (2012) who are model sisters!
Photo by Suniko
“I would ask them to reconsider how meaningful and impactful their work is. A person can be hard working individually. But sometimes, it might be good to ask: How does what I do impact the society? Is everything I do about money? How can the impact be maximized?”