Emmanuel K. Urey, Ph.D.Emmanuel K. Urey, Ph.D. is the founder of One Life Liberia and serves as the Executive Director. He is a native of Liberia, born in 1981. Growing up, he struggled with the loss of his mother at the age of 3 years, had no access to the walls of the classroom for most of his childhood, and escaped multiple child soldier conscription during the Liberian civil war.
As a scholar, not only did he obtain his Bachelor’s of Science Degree in 2008 from Cuttington University, but in the 10 years that followed, he added beneath his academic belt, a Master's Degree in Public Health (2011) from Cuttington University, a Master's of Science in Environment and Resources (2013) and a Ph.D in the same field from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has contributed in shaping the literature and concepts associated with Liberia's health care system, natural resources, concessions and extractions as contained his publications, including, "Political Ecology of Land & Agriculture Concessions in Liberia"; and "Corridors, Concessions and the Extraction of Natural Resources in Liberia". |
As a leader and a policy reformer, Dr. Urey believes that the fight against poverty can be won through law reforms on land, agriculture and food security, and improvements in education. He is one of those credited for the passage of the landmark legislation of the Liberian Land Rights Act; his long standing services to the Liberian Association of Wisconsin (LAW).
He is a land tenure, environmental and non-profit expert with a wide range of expertise in qualitative and quantitative field-based research; program organization; project implementation and oversight; grant and proposal writing; customary/informal land tenure regimes; rural land governance; technical training programs; and land policy. With over 10 years of experience in the land sector, he has coordinated with stakeholders in the land and environmental sectors, offering commentaries on land policy papers, draft land laws, and environmental and land governance strategies. Dr. Urey’s interests focus on livelihoods and health; culture preservation; sustainable development; environmental issues; the management of common property; gender issues; impacts of large-scale concessions for rural people; and environmental and social justice issues.