Shelagh Whitley's research is focussed on private climate finance and private sector models for development. Prior to joining ODI she worked in the carbon markets, on clean energy finance, and climate policy development within the public and private sectors. From 2006-2011 Shelagh worked for Camco a carbon project developer, working on the origination, execution and financing of compliance and voluntary carbon projects covering a range of low carbon technologies in regions including Asia, Africa, and North and South America. Shelagh was the Chair of the Carbon Markets and Investors Association (CMIA) Voluntary Market stream, and is currently Vice-Chair of the Technical Advisory Committee of the Gold Standard. From 2004-2006 Shelagh was a Project Manager with The Climate Group a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing business and government leadership on climate change. At The Climate Group she ran a finance sector leadership group and contributed to the development of the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS). Shelagh has a Masters Degree in International Environmental Policy and Finance from the Fletcher School at Tufts University in the United States, and a Combined Honours BSc in Biology and International Development Studies from Dalhousie University in Canada.