SURRY, ME & DURHAM, NH – MAY 2011 - Florence Reed, founder of Sustainable Harvest International in Surry, Maine, received an honorary doctorate from her Alma Mater, University of New Hampshire, during UNH’s 141st commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 21, 2011.

Reed, a 1990 graduate of the University of New Hampshire, earned a bachelor of science in environmental conservation and international affairs along with a minor in Spanish. Reed founded Sustainable Harvest International in 1997 after serving in the Peace Corps in Panama for two years. She envisioned an organization that would work alongside farmers by helping them learn to coexist with the rainforest instead of destroying it. Sustainable Harvest International strives to educate farmers in Central America on how to best work their land with the aim of preserving tropical forests and eradicating poverty. Today, SHI has programs in Honduras, Panama, Belize, and Nicaragua and an annual operating budget of $1.7 million, of which 90 percent goes to SHI projects. SHI has worked with 2,139 families in 155 communities, converting 13,871 acres into sustainable, diversified, and reforested land use.

Reed has been the recipient of a number of noteworthy awards, including the Women of Achievement Award from the Business & Professional Women's Foundation, the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of New Hampshire, an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Southern New Hampshire University, the Women of the Earth Award from the Yves Rocher Foundation and the Distinguished Service Award from the Garden Club of America. Most recently, Reed's portrait was added to the Americans Who Tell The Truth collection by renowned painter Robert Shetterly.

To learn more about SHI, go to http://www.sustainableharvest.org
For information on UNH’s commencement visit http://www.unh.edu/universityevents/commencement

For further media information, contact:   
Renée Johnson, Communications Coordinator
Office: (207) 669-8254
Direct: (207) 323-6313
Email: renee [at] sustainableharvest.org

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About Sustainable Harvest International: Founded in 1997 by Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Florence Reed, SHI has planted more than 2.8 million trees and converted thousands of acres to sustainable uses; thereby saving tens of thousands of acres of tropical forest from slash-and-burn destruction.  SHI has worked with more than 2,100 families in 155 communities throughout Honduras, Panama, Belize and Nicaragua implementing alternatives to slash-and-burn farming, the leading cause of tropical forest destruction in the region.

About The University of New Hampshire: The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling more than 12,200 undergraduate and 2,200 graduate students.