Sharon Smith

Trained as an ecologist in the jungles of Panama and Costa Rica, Sharon now works on issues of commodity-driven deforestation in tropical forests. She serves as the Campaign Manager for the Tropical Forest and Climate Initiative at the Union of Concerned Scientists, working to stem carbon emissions, deforestation, biodiversity loss and human conflict driven by the aggressive expansion of industrial palm oil plantations into the tropical forests in Southeast Asia.

Sharon is also an organizer and trainer active in social change movements for global justice, human rights, and environmental sustainability. She worked with student networks to achieve landmark environmental victories in the logging and finance sectors and has trained thousands of youth in advocacy for social change. As Program Advisor for the Brower Youth Awards at Earth Island Institute, Sharon supported hundreds of emerging environmental activists annually and co-produced Emmy award-winning films shown on The Sundance Channel and PBS. She is the author of 'The Young Activist's Guide to Building a Green Movement and Changing the World' published in 2011 by Ten Speed Press, and remains passionate about nurturing citizen movements at the heart of environmental efforts. In 2012 she completed her Master of Environmental Management at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.