Dr Laura Smith

Profile

I joined the University of Leeds in 2012 as a part-time PhD researcher focusing on Uganda’s oil industry and the sub-national social and political transformations taking place in the oil region during the pre-oil stage. Throughout my PhD I worked as a Teaching Fellow in the School of Politics and International Studies (POLIS), where I taught on numerous undergraduate and postgraduate modules, and led a core undergraduate module called Making of the Modern World.

I became a lecturer in Sustainability and Business in the School of Earth and Environment in 2019, where I worked on the MSc Sustainability and Business and MSc Sustainability and Consultancy programmes. I designed and developed a new module in Sustainability and Business for a fully online Sustainable Business Leadership MSc. I am module leader for two of the core modules on the online Sustainable Business Leadership (SBL) MSc, delivered in partnership with Leeds University Business School (LUBS) and Leeds Digital Education Service (DES).

Prior to joining the University of Leeds I worked in the third sector for ten years, including as a human rights campaigner and for an ethical trading NGO. 

Responsibilities

• Programme Co-Lead MSc Sustainable Business Leadership
• School Ethics Lead

• Creating a low carbon, environmentally sustainable and socially just value chain for rare earth magnets
• Identifying and overcoming non-technical barriers to UK sourcing of critical materials for net zero

Qualifications

• PhD Sustainable Development (University of Leeds)
• MA Peace Studies (University of Bradford)
• BA Hons International Business Studies (University of Northumbria)

Student education

I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and Programme Co-Lead for the online MSc Sustainable Business Leadership. On this programme I lead modules in Policy, Governance & Sustainability and Sustainability & Business, which are core modules on the online Sustainable Business Leadership MSc. 

In my role of Ethics Lead for the School of Earth and Environment I provide training to undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD students on research ethics.