StudentUniversity of Oxford
Irina is a PhD candidate in Geography and the Environment at Oxford, and is a recipient of the prestigious Weidenfeld-Hoffman Trust Scholarship. She is a co-founder of an innovative forestry start-up BioCarbon Engineering, that uses drones for forest restoration, and of a social enterprise BubbleNut Wash that makes sustainable laundry detergent while providing livelihood to rural Indian farmers.
Previously, Irina co-founded an environmental education NGO in Russia, reaching more than 5,000 people and received the World Health Organization prize as the Best European Youth Initiative in 2010.
Irina is a Forum Coordinator for Caux Initiatives of Land, Lives and Peace which is part of Initiatives of Change International, an international movement active in 60 countries. The programme runs in partnership with the UNCCD and IUCN and brings together senior-level policymakers, project managers, and social entrepreneurs who deal with the impact of land degradation on the stability of food production and resultant forced migration.
Prior to starting her Doctorate, Irina obtained a MSc in Environmental Policy with Distinction from Oxford University Centre for the Environment, and a Marketing and Advertising Degree from the Far Eastern Federal University, Russia. Irina was recently a visiting scholar at the Yunnan University of Economics and Finance, where she conducted her research on forest conservation in South-West China.