Saleem Hassan Ali
User Profile
Saleem H. Ali is Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Vermont's Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, and on the adjunct faculty of Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies and the visiting faculty for the United Nations mandated University for Peace (Costa Rica).His research focuses on the causes and consequences of environmental conflicts and how ecological factors can promote peace. Much of his empirical research has focused on environmental conflicts in the mineral sector. His most recent book is titled Treasures of the Earth: Need, Greed and a Sustainable Future. He is also the author of Mining, the Environment and Indigenous Development Conflicts. His most recent edited volume is Earth Matters: Indigenous Peoples, The Extractive Industries and Corporate Social Resposibility (edited with Ciaran O'Fairchellaegh). He is also the editor of the widely acclaimed volume Peace Parks: Conservation and Conflict Resolution (MIT Press, September, 2007), which has received cover endorsements from environmental scientists E.O. Wilson, George Schaller and UNEP executive director Achim Steiner, and a foreword by IUCN Director General Julia Marton-Lefevre. In May 2010, he was also chosen by National Geographic as an "emerging explorer" and was profiled in "Forbes magazine" in September, 2009 as "The Alchemist." Dr. Ali is a member of the World Commission on Protected Areas and the IUCN Taskforce on Transboundary Conservation. He has also been involved in promoting environmental education in madrassahs (Islamic religious schools) and using techniques from environmental planning to study the rise of these institutions in his ethnic homeland -- Pakistan, leading to a sole-authored book published in January 2009 by Oxford University Press titled Islam and Education: Conflict and Conformity in Pakistan's Madrassahs. Some of his current research on environmental health perception in mining areas and social responsibility in the mining sector is supported by the Tiffany &Co. Foundation . Prior to embarking on an academic career, Dr. Ali worked as an environmental health and safety professional at General Electric (based at GE headquarters in Fairfield, CT, and at silicone resin manufacturing sites in New York). He has served as a consultant for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Health Canada as an Associate at the Boston-based consulting firm Industrial Economics Inc. Pro bono projects include a mining impact prospectus for the Crowe Tribe of Montana and research assistance to Cultural Survival (an indigenous rights NGO). He is also a professional mediator and has conducted workshops on consensus-building for private and public interests, as well as peer review of research publications for the World Bank, the International Institute for Sustainable Development, The Woodrow Wilson Center, the Journal of Environmental Management, the Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, the Natural Resources Forum and Yale University Press. Research appointments include a visiting fellowship at the Brookings Institution's research center in Doha, Qatar; a Public Policy Fellowship at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia, a Baker Foundation Research Fellowship at Harvard Business School and a parliamentary internship at the U.K. House of Commons. Teaching experience includes courses on environmental planning, conflict resolution, industrial ecology, research methods and technical writing. Professor Ali received his doctorate in Environmental Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), an M.E.S. in environmental law and policy from Yale University, and his Bachelors in Chemistry from Tufts University (summa cum laude).
