Elizabeth Porter is an economist specializing in teaching development, humanitarian assistance, and environmental and natural resource economics. She has over 17 years of professional field experience in international development, serving as a consultant on issues of ethical commodity chains and international humanitarian assistance. Elizabeth serves with the Consortium for Humanitarian Service and Education, an international group of educators, practitioners, and students from a variety of backgrounds. The Consortium provides realistic, simulation-based experiential training which prepares students and practitioners for work in disaster response and recovery, humanitarian aid, leadership, and negotiation in domestic and international emergencies. She is currently finishing her PhD dissertation in Food & Resource Economics on cacao and its role in income generation in the reduction of deforestation from the Institute of Food & Agricultural Sciences at the University of Florida.Elizabeth is the owner of the Porters & Importers Company, a small-business specializing in Fair Trade handicrafts. She has worked as an Environmental Educational Consultant with Rainforest Alliance, and with a number of other nonprofit organizations supporting sustainability through education in the Amazon Rainforest.
