Pheakkdey is a Senior Forest Governance Expert at the European Forest Institute (EFI). He provides policy support and technical guidance to forest governance and climate change processes at the national, regional, and global levels. Prior to joining EFI in 2018, he worked for 15 years on the development and implementation of projects related to environmental safeguards, extractive industries, and carbon financing for multilateral development banks, United Nations agencies, non-profits, and private companies in Australia, the United States, and primarily Southeast Asia. Since 2013, he has been a member of SUMERNET and currently serves as its Chair. SUMERNET is an initiative established in 2005 to bring together around 1,000 research and policy partners working on sustainable development issues in the Mekong region.

Pheakkdey holds a PhD and has conducted research supported by a range of grants, including Fulbright, the IPCC, and the US National Science Foundation, among others.