Ahjond Garmestani is a Research Scientist at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Gulf Breeze, Florida; a Fellow at the Utrecht Centre for Water, Oceans and Sustainability Law, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Associated Faculty in the Department of Environmental Sciences at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia; and an Adjunct Professor in the School of Natural Resources and a Fellow at the Center for Resilience in Agricultural Working Landscapes at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, Nebraska.

He received a Ph.D. in Policy Studies from Clemson University in 2006, a J.D. from Florida State University College of Law in 2001, a M.S. in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Florida in 1997, and a B.A. in Anthropology from Emory University in 1993. His transdisciplinary research is focused upon governance of social-ecological systems and has resulted in over 100 peer-reviewed publications, 3 books and 3 journal special features.