Stephen Posner is Director of Pathways to Planetary Health with the Garrison Institute. In this role, he builds strategic partnerships for planetary health and develops practical, scalable approaches to addressing global environmental issues. Stephen's work integrates scientific inquiry and contemplative ways of knowing across traditions to build a more compassionate and balanced world.
Previously, Stephen served as Director of Policy and Partnerships with the Gund Institute for Environment at the University of Vermont. In his role within the Office of the Vice President for Research, Stephen forged new partnerships to translate ideas from research into real world impact and launched a new university-wide research theme on Equity, Justice, and the Environment.
Stephen has over 20 years of experience building understanding across sectors. He's fascinated with how perspectives and worldviews change. Stephen is a trusted advisor to policymakers and funders, and he’s consulted with global companies in agriculture, mining, and forestry to help them evaluate how they impact and depend on nature. He contributed to the publication and release of the Vermont Climate Assessment 2020. This work led to numerous evidence-informed policies and a new federal center of excellence on measuring climate impacts. He also developed a partnership with the USDA Office of the Chief Economist, Duke University, and the University of Vermont to evaluate how natural resource management affects land, water, biodiversity, and climate. Stephen's work has appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Environmental Science & Policy, Nature Communications, Bloomberg, The Hill, and the New York Times.
A native of Baltimore, Stephen has lived in the Bay Area of California and the Hudson Valley of New York. He now lives in the Green Mountains of Vermont. He received a B.S. in astronomy and physics from Haverford College, attended graduate school at Stanford University, and earned a Ph.D. in natural resources and ecological economics from University of Vermont. Outside of work, Stephen loves time with family, mountains, and homegrown food.
