ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Saleem H. Ali was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, but grew up in Lahore, Pakistan until his college years. He received his Bachelors degree in Chemistry summa cum laude from Tufts University, where he was also the recipient of the Durkee Scholarship for chemical research. While enrolled at Tufts, he spent a year at the University of London and participated in a parliamentary internship at the U.K. House of Commons. After completing his undergraduate studies, he proceeded to Yale University to complete a Masters degree in environmental studies. During his time at Yale, his interests expanded into the social sciences and humanities and he completed a Masters thesis on water governance regimes in Southern Africa.
After graduating from Yale, Ali was employed at General Electric Corporation as part of its highly competitive technical leadership program for two years. The program gave him an opportunity to have rotations at GE headquarters in Fairfield Connecticut, at GE’s largest silicone resin manufacturing site in Waterford, New York and at the company’s leading research and development facility in Niskayuna, New York.
While he learned much from this corporate experience, Ali’s primary interests remained teaching and research and he decided to continue graduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He completed his doctorate in environmental planning from MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning. His doctoral research focused on environmental conflicts in the extractive industries and was supported by a Martin Sustainability Fellowship and a Voorhees Scholarship.
After a brief period of environmental consulting with the Cambridge-based firm Industrial Economics, Inc., Ali joined the faculty at the University of Vermont, where he is now Associate Professor of Environmental Planning at the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. He is also on the adjunct faculty of Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies and the UN mandated University for Peace in Costa Rica. Ali has received grants and project contracts from the United States Institute of Peace, The Tiffany & Company Foundation, The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the United Nations Environment Program. His field experience spans six continents and teaching experience covers a broad range of courses from environmental chemistry to environmental conflict resolution.
In 2007 he was chosen by Seed magazine as one of eight “Revolutionary Minds in the World” in recognition of his work on using environmental factors as a means of conflict resolution.