Dr. Shira Bukchin-Peles is a faculty member at the Glocal Program for International Development and the Department of Geography and the head of the Behavioral Sustainable Development lab at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Shira conducts interdisciplinary research on sustainable development with a focus on understanding and promoting the connections between human behavior and sustainable development. Her studies typically examine how human behavior and decision-making affect the environment and contribute to sustainable development, as well as how sustainable development can improve the well-being of individuals and communities. She approaches environmental issues from technological, behavioral, social, and educational perspectives, and her research often has significant empirical and applied components. A significant part of her research deals with the developing world, and she has led a variety of field studies in countries such as Senegal, Nepal, and Ethiopia.

Shira holds a B.Sc. in Biology from Tel Aviv University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Public Policy from Tel Aviv University. Her doctoral research focused on the relationship between personal resources and the adoption of sustainable technologies and methods by farmers in developing countries. She also completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley's Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, where she investigated the potential of insects for food and feed from a social and economic perspective.