Mona Shomali

Mona Shomali is an Iranian American author and visual

artist driven by a singular purpose – to explore how we navigate

competing morals and worldviews. Her unique background,

steeped in Indigenous Human Rights and Environmental

Science, informs her brush and her prose.

Mona’s journey into the heart of the Amazon started with

her pivotal research work on the Sarayacu vs. Ecuador case

in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. She worked on

behalf of the Sarayacu tribe, who was suing the government

of Ecuador for illegally allowing drilling on their ancestral

land without consent. Having lived and worked with tribes in

Guyana and Brazil, Mona has dedicated her career to teaching

and sharing the crucial juxtapositions and cultural challenges

inherent in Western environmentalism.

As an adjunct faculty member at The New School, Pace,

and NYU, her courses focused on Indigenous human rights,

resource conflicts in the Amazon, International environmental

governance, and environmental justice. She also taught ecology

at the New York Botanical Garden.

Mona’s paintings – like those in her “Invisible Stains”

collection, which includes the cover art for Water Mamas –

embody her commitment to these vital global conversations.

Mona is now based in Oakland, CA.