1. Faculty of Environment
  2. School of Earth and Environment
  3. People
  4. Profile
Dr Laura Smith

Dr Laura Smith

  • Position: Lecturer in Sustainability and Business
  • Areas of expertise: Corporate responsibility and international development; political ecology of resource extraction; stakeholder engagement; online and blended learning.
  • Email: L.E.Smith1@leeds.ac.uk
  • Location: 9.124 Earth and Environment

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. Currently I am module leader for two of the core modules on the online Sustainable Business Leadership MSc programme, 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. 

 

<h4>Research projects</h4> <p>Any research projects I'm currently working on will be listed below. Our list of all <a href="https://environment.leeds.ac.uk/dir/research-projects">research projects</a> allows you to view and search the full list of projects in the faculty.</p>

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 module lead for Policy, Governance & Sustainability and Sustainability & Business, which are core modules on the online Sustainable Business Leadership MSc.