About the speaker:
Dr. Shiva is an internationally renowned advocate for food justice and biodiverse agriculture. Trained in quantum physics, she became involved in environmental research and grassroots activism when she witnessed the environmental harm caused by monocropping and pesticide use in her home region at the base of the Himalayas. She founded and directs Navdanya, an organization that protects biodiversity and promotes organic farming based on the traditional knowledge of rural Indian women.
A leader in the movement to build international networks among groups most marginalized by global economic forces, Shiva advises governments and organizations globally, including Women’s Environment and Development Organization and the Asia Pacific People’s Environment Movement. Among her awards are the Alternative Nobel Prize and the Sydney Peace Prize. She has authored more than 20 books, including Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution, and Profit (2002), which addresses the political implications of increasing resource scarcity; Earth Democracy: Justice, Sustainability, and Peace (2005), a framework for environmental justice; and Soil Not Oil (2008), which champions small, independent farms as a foundation for food justice.