Robin Sears, Ph.D.



Robin R. Sears is a research scientist in forest ecology and management. Since 2016, she has served as visiting Assistant Professor of Forestry at Hampshire College in her native Massachusetts. For seven years she served as Chief Academic Officer at The School for Field Studies, an environmental study-abroad program. Robin has for a long time been engaged in field research and policy analysis related to forest management and timber production systems of smallholder farmers, and her current geographic foci are Amazonia and the Eastern Himalaya. Her research is deeply rooted in this field and is based on long-term engagement with farmers and other actors in the forestry sector. Having climbed glacial peaks in the Andes and Mexico, kayaked on the coasts of Canada and the US, canoed through the flooded forests in the Amazon, and hiked along innumerable mountain streams around the world, Robin appreciates the critical nature of rivers for life on Earth.