Dr. Sarah Juster

IGC FELLOW GRADUATE    |   Global Change Center

VT GRADUATE May 2026  • 

Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation

Advisor: Dr. John Munsell

Research Interests: Agroforestry in refugee settings, social dimensions of tree-based interventions, participatory mapping

shj22@vt.edu

Sarah Juster is an interdisciplinary social scientist whose research examines agroforestry, forest-based livelihoods, food security, and climate resilience in displacement contexts. She recently completed her Ph.D. in Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation at Virginia Tech (defense completed April 24, 2026), where her dissertation focused on trees, forests, and refugee displacement in northwestern Uganda.

Her current work explores how refugees and host communities use trees and forests to support livelihoods and environmental conservation under conditions of climate change and humanitarian aid cuts. She is especially interested in participatory and mixed-methods approaches that connect local ecological knowledge, spatial analysis, and community engagement.

Sarah has conducted extensive fieldwork in northern Uganda and has worked with the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) on agroforestry, biochar, and refugee-host livelihood programming in East Africa. Her broader background includes social work (B.S.W. and M.S.W.), graduate certificates in geospatial analysis and agroforestry, forest carbon assessment, qualitative policy research, and agricultural experience in the United States and Tanzania.

As an alumna of the Interfaces of Global Change program, Sarah remains committed to interdisciplinary research that identifies locally-relevant solutions for communities facing social and ecological vulnerability.

In the News

IGC Fellow Sarah Juster Receives 2023-24 Fulbright Award (GCC News 2023)
Postcard from the Field (Uganda): Sarah Juster (GCC News 2024)
Postcard from the Field (Uganda-Part 2): Sarah Juster (GCC News 2025)
Congratulations to Sarah Juster, Early Career Synergy Grant Recipient (GCC News 2025)

Last updated July 2026.