Sarah Backstrand is a Master's of Science graduate candidate at the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan, specializing in Environmental Policy, and is a member of the Informal Sustainability Lab. Sarah is a Dow Sustainability Fellow (2025), where she works to help create a sustainable world using interdisciplinary, collaborative approaches. Sarah’s research focuses on mineral extraction and decarbonization, where she emphasizes the need to bring an inclusive approach to vulnerable mining communities who are impacted by the global pursuit of minerals. 

Sarah studies the relationship between mining companies and small-scale mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Indonesia. In the summer of 2025, she will collect primary data on the social and environmental tradeoffs associated with artisanal and small-scale (ASM) mining in Indonesia. 

Sarah co-founded Students Organized for E-Cycling, an initiative to improve electronic waste recycling practices at the University of Michigan. 

Sarah worked at the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) between 2019 and 2024, where she advanced fundraising efforts to support urgent work on mineral governance, fighting corruption along mineral supply chains and reducing methane emissions. She was also chair of NRGI's diversity, equity and inclusion action group from 2023 - 2024. Prior to joining NRGI, Sarah worked as a consultant, research assistant and intern for Bioversity International in Malaysia, Uganda and Italy. She received a B.A. at Colby College with a major in environmental policy and a minor in anthropology, and was the was the recipient of the F. Russell Cole Student Research Fellowship Grant in Environmental Studies.