Professor Rachael D. Garrett is the Moran Professor of Conservation and Development in Geography at the University of Cambridge and Director of its Conservation Research Institute. She combines economics, geography, and environmental policy to study land‑use change in tropical agricultural-forest frontiers, focusing on drivers of deforestation, effectiveness and equity of zero‑deforestation supply‑chain policies, and opportunities for forest restoration across Brazil, Indonesia, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire. 

Garrett earned her BA from Boston University, MPA from Columbia, and PhD from Stanford, followed by postdoctoral work at Harvard and faculty roles at Boston University and ETH Zurich before joining Cambridge in 2022.

Garnering an ERC Starting Grant, Swiss National Science Funding, and numerous awards, including recognition as a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher in 2024, she also serves on UN science panels, advises companies and governments on sustainability, and co‑chairs the Global Land Programme.

Blending rigorous field and policy research, Professor Garrett advances forest conservation through equitable, evidence-based strategies at a global scale.