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Karam Sheban is starting as a new Research Assistant Professor at UNH working on the ADAPT project this May, bringing over a decade of experience in agroforestry research and practice. Karam graduated from Ohio State University with a degree in Environmental Policy in 2014. He spent three years after college as an AmeriCorps volunteer at , a community development organization in Appalachian Ohio, working with communities, farmers, and forest landowners to develop agroforestry systems as a source of income, environmental restoration, and cultural revitalization in the region. This work was made possible through organizational and community partnerships, including key university partners such as Virginia Tech, Penn State, and North Carolina State.

He received a master's degree in Forestry from the in 2020, returned to Ohio to direct Rural Action’s program for a few years, and then began his PhD at Yale. His doctoral work examined the ecological, financial, and policy dimensions of temperate forest farming systems, with an emphasis on commercially valuable understory herbs. In his academic work, Karam draws on the fields of forest and ecosystem ecology, horticulture, and silviculture to quantify the impacts of temperate agroforestry systems, with an emphasis on building pathways from high-quality science to effective policy to support agroforestry adoption. In addition to his studies, in 2021 he co-founded the , an organization that provides training, mentorship, funding, market connections, and other resources to northeastern agroforestry adopters. This work supports a wide range of practitioners, from multi-generational farms and forest landowners to independent herbalists, tribes and tribal members, small businesses, and others.

The ADAPT team is thrilled to welcome Karam and looks forward to the expertise, energy, and leadership he’ll bring to our growing agroforestry efforts this year.