Dr. Elsa Sattout joined UNESCO Regional Bureau for Sciences in the Arab States in Cairo in June 2017. She is currently managing the Ecology and Earth Sciences Programme in the Arab region. She is an Interdisciplinary Professional with 24+ years of experience in international, regional, and national development projects, spearheading research initiatives, and technology transfer and capacity development. Elsa started her career with UN in 2000, as Regional Coordinator of the Biodiversity Planning Support Programme in the Northern Arabian Peninsula. In 2007, she was appointed as UNEP Regional Advisor on the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety in West Asia. She worked with international organizations (UNDP, UNEP, World Bank, IUCN, AFD, GIZ, Plan Bleu etc.), government agencies and the private sector on development projects and applied research initiatives and programmes related to numerous fields of biodiversity conservation, ecosystem restoration, climate change, environmental valuation of ecosystems services, natural heritage management and sustainable development. She has strong expertise in the governance of environmental policies and conservation and adaptation instruments, as well as in national and regional strategic and inclusive socioeconomic-environmental planning.
Elsa taught in various renowned Lebanese universities where she developed and delivered courses on various aspects of Natural Sciences, Environmental Ethics, Sustainable Development, and Environmental Economy. In 2013, she published her first book on native trees in Lebanon and neighboring countries. She was the lead author of the Biota Chapter of the Global Environmental Outlook (GEO6) of the Arab Region and the North Africa. She has published chapters in books and manuscripts and articles in peer reviewed journals. More recently, Elsa authored 2 UNESCO publications and was the leader of the development of UNESCO Atlas on Natural Hazards in the Arab Region: A tool for socio-ecological systems resilience and adaptation.
Elsa is an Agriculture Engineer and holds an MSc. degree in Biodiversity Conservation and a PhD degree from the University of Reading in the UK. She was awarded Myriam Rothschild Scholarship for the MPhil in Conservation Leadership at Cambridge University in 2014.