Yara Acaf is a doctoral student at the Stan Richards School of Advertising and Public Relations interested in science communication. More particularly, she works on environmental advertising, campaigns, activism, and justice.
Previously, Yara worked as a Communications Assistant with REVOLVE, a media company based in Europe that fosters sustainability. She also worked as a Research and Development Assistant at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN‐ESCWA) where she studied the climate change and conflict nexus in the MENA region. Yara is passionate about environmental advocacy and social justice, which is why she joined the Mediterranean Youth for Climate Action (MedYCA) network and co‐founded the Global Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN) Lebanon chapter as well as Peace on Climate (a think tank that aims to raise the issue of climate change and conflict to policymakers).
Her projects have been awarded by the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, Anna Lindh Foundation, and Center for Mediterranean Integration. She has given numerous workshops on environmental justice and youth mobilization and appeared on BBC Arabic on several occasions to discuss climate change mitigation and adaptation in the Arab region and globally.
In her free time, Yara likes to play Tennis, travel, debate politics, and explore downtown Austin.