Meryl Harrell

Meryl L. R. Harrell is a Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, working with the U.S. Forest Service and the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Since joining USDA in 2009, Meryl has been involved in a range of natural resource issues, including land management planning and connecting youth to the great outdoors. Prior to joining USDA, Meryl was part of the President’s Campaign for Change in 2008, and has also worked on public lands issues at The Wilderness Society in Washington, D.C. Meryl received her J.D. from the Yale Law School, where she studied environmental law, and graduated magna cum laude with an A.B. in geosciences and environmental studies from Princeton University. She is also an alum of the Teton Science School, where her love of rocks turned into a passion for public lands. A New Jersey native, Meryl enjoys spending as much time as she can hiking on our National Forests and Grasslands with her husband Peter and son Sam.

Meryl will keynote the inaugural SHIFT Emerging Leaders Program on Monday, October 10, as well as represent the Outdoor Access Working Group at the SHIFT Summit’s Marketplace on Friday, Oct. 14 at 1:45 p.m.

Tickets for the 2016 SHIFT Festival can be found here.