Tara DePorte - Who is the Human Impacts Institute

Born and raised in Virginia, Tara has lived in Brooklyn for many years and considers New York City as her “base” for exploration. With a BA in Human Impacts on Ecosystems from the University of Virginia and a MA in Climate and Society from Columbia University, Tara’s formal education has focused on issues of sustainable development, society, and the environment.

Tara founded the Human Impacts Institute in 2010, seeing a need for creative approaches to sustainability and global coalition building. Previously, Tara worked for 9 years as Director of Environmental Education and as Program Director for a NYC community-based organization--developing opportunities for inner-city youth to learn about, and develop responsibility for, their local environment. She has also served as a global representative of All Gore’s ClimateRealityProject since 2006, presenting to thousands of people about climate change.  Tara is also an adjunct professor of Environmental Studies, Policy, Sustainable Development and Visual Arts the New School (NYC) and Webster University, Leiden (Leiden, Netherlands), and a guest lecturer at Columbia University (NYC).