Simran Sethi

Simran Sethi is a journalist and educator focused on food, sustainability and social change. Named the environmental “messenger” by Vanity Fair and a top 10 eco-hero of the planet by the U.K.’s Independent, Simran is the author of Bread, Wine, Chocolate: The Slow Loss of Foods We Love, detailing the loss of biodiversity in food and agriculture. She is an associate at the University of Melbourne’s Sustainable Society Institute in Australia, a contributor for Orion Magazine and a recent visiting scholar at the Cocoa Research Centre in St. Augustine, Trinidad.

Lauded as an “environmental woman of impact” by Daily Variety, Simran was the host of the 2013-2014 PBS QUEST series on science and sustainability. She was the environmental correspondent for NBC News, which included contributions to CNBC, MSNBC, TODAY and Nightly News. Simran was also the anchor and writer of the Sundance Channel’s environmental programming The Green, and has been featured on the History Channel and National Public Radio, as well as on media in Australia, India and Italy. She was also the host of the EMMY award-winning PBS documentary A School in the Woods.

Simran is the contributing author of Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy, winner of the bronze 2008 Axiom Award for Best Business Ethics Book. She has written about sustainability for FoodTank, AlterNet, The Huffington Post, Orion, Metropolis Magazine, Mother Earth News, Oprah.com and the Guggenheim Museum.

Simran has presented at institutions ranging from the Commonwealth Club to M.I.T.; spoken at events such as TEDxCibeles, the James Beard Foundation Food Conference, the Sustainable Foods Summit in Amsterdam and the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney; keynoted conferences including the 140 Character Conference, North American Association For Environmental Education conference and the University of Southampton’s Interdisciplinary Research Week; and moderated panels for the White House’s GreenGov and the Global Landscapes Forum in Lima, Peru.

Simran has served, since 2008, as an associate fellow at the Asia Society. She was also a fellow in the Poynter Institute’s Sense-Making project, a Ford Foundation-funded program studying the integration of new media and democratic values. Simran is a recent graduate of the Hoffman Institute. She holds an M.B.A. in sustainable business from the Presidio Graduate School and graduated cum laude with a B.A. in sociology and women’s studies from Smith College. She is the 2009 recipient of the Smith College Medal, awarded to alumnae demonstrating extraordinary professional achievements and outstanding service to their communities, the 2010 recipient of the American College Personnel Association Champion of Sustainability award for leadership on sustainability in academe and the 2011 winner of the National Education Association Mobile Project Award.

More information can be found at simransethi.com.