Gamal Sherif’s commitment to environmental education started in Philadelphia when he served as a high school science teacher. While teaching in an 80 year-old building with unhealthy indoor environmental quality, Gamal realized that this situation was neither just nor sustainable, and that curriculum, instruction, assessment, and policy should be aligned to improving students’ experiences.

Since then, Gamal has served as a curriculum director, a principal, and as a consultant the Center for Teaching Quality, the National Science Foundation, and the North American Association for Environmental Education. As a Program Manager with the environmental education nonprofit EcoRise, Gamal worked with educators, students, architects, and engineers to create a green building network replete with year-round professional development, equitably paid internships, and related credentialing.

Gamal has a bachelor’s degree in sociology from SUNY-Binghamton, a Masters in Teaching from Temple University, and a Master of Science in Educational Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania. In 2012, he was selected as a fellow with the U.S. Department of Education and since then, has provided guidance on national climate education policy and energy efficiency planning. In 2019, he became an ambassador with the United Nations’ #TeachSDG (i.e., Sustainable Development Goals) program. Gamal is also a credentialed LEED Green Associate.

Gamal and his family enjoy cooking, biking, and gardening. After years of replacing lawn with native perennials, shrubs, and trees, they turned their yard into a National Wildlife Federation-certified wildlife habitat.