Shahid Naeem

Shahid Naeem was born in California and grew up in Bedford-Stuyvesant, a neighborhood of New York City. Growing up in New York City, Naeem was exposed to science and nature through museums, botanical gardens, and conservatories. Naeem considered becoming a doctor or illustrator, but ultimately decided to pursue a career in science as an ecologist and professor.

Naeem returned to California to complete his undergraduate degree, M.A., and Ph.D. at University of California, Berkeley. After earning his Ph.D. in Zoology, Naeem worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan, the University of Copenhagen, and the Imperial College of London.

Naeem worked as a faculty member at the University of Minnesota and the University of Washington before he joined the Columbia University faculty in 2003. He is the former department chair and a professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology at Columbia University. In 2008, Naeem was honored as a Lenfest Distinguished Columbia Faculty, an award that recognizes excellent teaching, scholarship, and mentorship.

He operates an ecology research laboratory at Columbia University with Matt Palmer, dubbed “Ecology With No Apology.” They have three lab mottos: “Never apologize for the truth! Eschew obfuscation! Do what you gotta do and stay fly!” Their lab focuses on researching plants, animals, and microorganisms in a plethora of ecosystems. Naeem is interested in understanding how ecosystems are disrupted by the removal of a native species or the introduction of an invasive species. He believes that biodiversity loss is the most significant impediment to environmental sustainability and ecological health.

Naeem's research was prominent in shifting ecologists' focus on the importance of biodiversity conservation for the sake of conservation, to an expanded perspective that emphasizes the importance of biodiversity in maintaining ecosystem health and stability.

Naeem is also the director of science at the Earth Institute Center for Environmental Sustainability. Under this role, he works to develop research programs with a consortium that includes the American Museum of Natural History, the New York Botanical Garden, the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Wildlife Trust.