Dr. Shaneica Lester
Chairwoman
Dr. Shaneica Lester is an Environmental Geographer and Lecturer at The University of the West Indies, Jamaica, whose work focuses on water security, environmental governance, and climate change adaptation in Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
Her research examines how environmental resources, institutions, and communities interact to shape vulnerability and resilience. She combines academic research with policy engagement to understand environmental challenges and identify pathways towards more sustainable and inclusive resource governance.
Dr. Lester applies her research across urban and rural contexts, engaging vulnerable communities, small-scale farmers, and youth to build practical, on-the-ground adaptive capacity. Increasingly, her work draws on nexus-based approaches to examine the interconnections among water, energy, and food systems, ecosystem services, and local communities, and their implications for climate resilience and sustainable development in island contexts.
Beyond academia, Dr. Lester contributes directly to public resource management and environmental governance in Jamaica through her roles as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Water Resources Authority, Chair of the Forestry Advisory Board, and Commissioner on the Land Development and Utilisation Commission.
She brings her regional perspective and expertise to international scientific spaces, serving on the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) and the International Water Resources Association (IWRA) Islands and Water Task Force. She has also served as a Fellow and Contributing Author to the United Nations Environment Programme’s Seventh Global Environment Outlook (GEO-7). Across these roles, she works at the science-policy interface to strengthen environmental governance, climate resilience, and sustainable development in the Latin America and Caribbean region.
— Term in Office
Dr. Lester was appointed Chairman of the Water Resources Authority in January 2026.
— Committee Membership
Ex-officio member on all committees except the Audit and Risk Management Committee