Paige West is Claire Tow Professor of Anthropology at Barnard College.

[5] She joined the faculty of Barnard College and Columbia University in 2001 after graduating from Rutgers.

[5] Her scholar interest lies in the relationship between societies and their environments, focusing on the linkages between environmental conservation and international development.

She has carried out fieldwork in a number of countries, most notably in Papua New Guinea.

[7] She is the founder of the journal Environment and Society: Advances in Research and served as its editor from 2009 to 2019.