Shankar Ghosh was born in Lucknow in 1943. He majored in geology from the University of Lucknow and studied forestry in the Indian Forest College, Dehradun. After a brief stint in the Indian Forest Service, he worked in wood-based industries in India and East Africa. He headed a major agro-forestry poplar intercropping programme in the farmlands of north India, and helped initiate livelihood enhancement programmes in Africa through the introduction of rural poultry. He has worked with Arizona State University and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.