Shelley Mitchell is a PhD Candidate in the Natural Resources and Earth Systems Sciences Program at the University of New Hampshire. This is an interdisciplinary program bridging the natural sciences with business theory and practice. Her research focus is on helping small to medium size enterprises (SMEs) address environmental sustainability initiatives. Shelley’s dissertation examines how SMEs use innovation on the path toward ecological sustainability. The research includes writing five case studies on the companies’ best practices and related challenges that confront SMEs who embrace an environmental sustainability mission. Her graduation is scheduled for May 2011.

Selected to participate in the oikos Young Scholars Entrepreneurship Academy 2010 in Switzerland, Shelley will be one of fifteen PhD students from ten countries who will present their research on the role of institutions, entrepreneurship and organizational change for a fundamental reorientation towards achieving environmental, social and economic sustainability. The first oikos Young Scholars Entrepreneurship Academy provides PhD students a platform to present and discuss their ongoing research projects with fellow students and senior faculty. Event collaborators include the World Wildlife Fund and The Hub Zurich. Moreover, she received an invitation to take part in the prestigious Academy of Management’s Doctorial Consortium at their Annual Conference in Montreal in August, 2010.

Shelley received her Executive MBA from UNH in 2002, with an emphasis in entrepreneurship. She was a finalist in the Holloway Business Plan Competition and did an international residency in Europe as part of her graduate program. She also holds a BS in Forestry from Michigan Technological University and certificates in fundraising management, elementary education & secondary science, professional coaching and as a training consultant. Currently she is the Director of Leadership & Legacy Giving at New Hampshire Public Television. Past positions include founding member at a business start-up, Director of Corporate & Foundation Support at the UNH Foundation, Executive Director of the Seacoast Land Trust, and Director of Education at the Indianapolis Zoo and Education Specialist at the Indiana Department of Natural Resources-Division of Forestry. Shelley’s aspirations include combining her education and experience in the natural and social sciences, and philanthropy in advancing social and ecological sustainability for economic viability.