Sunita Narain, born in 1961, joined the New Delhi based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), one of India’s leading environmental NGOs, after high school in 1982. In her work, Narain has focused on the relationship between environment and development and on the formation of a public consciousness regarding the need for sustainable development. Her research interests range from global democracy, with a special focus on climate change, to the need for local democracy where she has worked on forest-related resource management and water issues. This year, she has been awarded an honorary doctorate of science by Cranfield University, in recognition for her work. She is currently the director of the CSE and director of the Society for Environmental Communications.