Geetha Nayak joined the STAP Secretariat in July 2025 as a Programme Management Officer, focusing on International Waters and Land Degradation focal areas. Prior to this role, she served as the Regional Coordinator for Nature Action at the United Nations Environment Programme, Regional Office for West Asia (UNEP ROWA) in Beirut, Lebanon.
At UNEP ROWA, Geetha provided technical support to member states in West Asia on biodiversity-related multilateral environmental agreements, including the CBD, UNCCD, and CMS. Her work also encompassed projects on land degradation, One Health, Antimicrobial Resistance, and Sustainable Food Systems. Additionally, she supported UN Country Teams in Lebanon, Jordan, and the UAE in integrating environmental considerations into their UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks. Before joining UNEP in March 2023, Geetha Nayak was a Senior Advisor at the German Development Cooperation (GIZ), where she led technical cooperation projects on the Nagoya Protocol and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.
Academically, Geetha Nayak holds a PhD in Ecology from Pondicherry University, India, and did her post-doctoral research at the University of Reading, UK. She was also a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellow at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, USA.
