Sharna is an Affiliated Researcher at SEI Tallinn and joined the Climate and Energy programme in early 2020.
Prior to this, Sharna worked as a senior manager and team leader on a wide range of sustainable development and low emission projects in East Africa, southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Pacific and Australia and co-delivered empirical and social research, complex needs assessments and evaluations. She has strong technical expertise in design, fundraising and delivering collaborative and impactful programs that aim to progress and scale Paris and Agenda 2030 compliant policy and investment outcomes.
Most recently, she co-delivered the Green Infrastructure Investment Opportunities report for Australia and New Zealand, and supported long-term low emissions development strategic planning in Vietnam, Indonesia and the Pacific, including sector and sustainable finance roadmaps. Prior to this, she held accountability for a range of women’s rights projects via local partnerships in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and coordinated groundbreaking baseline research to examine the socioeconomic and cultural aspects of indigenous deforestation in East Africa. Sharna has also worked at Australia’s national science agency CSIRO to support best practice in collaborative water planning, and co-led state level climate change action planning as well as multi-province socioeconomic studies in rural China to scale sustainable agricultural initiatives.
Sharna has also spent significant time working in Afghanistan on rural livelihood issues related to land conflict resolution and scaling pro-poor, pro-woman participation in value chains.
Her professional interest now aims to support SEI’s role in building the evidence base and momentum to support an equitable low carbon transition. She is particularly interested in understanding more about the potential of big data analytics, integrated strategic planning, nature-based solutions and how the private and public sector can better work together.
Sharna holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Science and Policy (Central European University) and a Master’s degree in International Development and Environmental Analysis (Monash University).
Sharna works from Australia. Please contact her on Skype (sharna2) for urgent enquiries.