She received her doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley and her master's degree from Yale University. Shapiro's research focuses on market-based conservation initiatives in Latin America, their social and environmental impacts and their intersection with development projects and goals at multiple scales. She has examined these themes in the context of national payment for ecosystem services programs in Mexico, cacao agroforestry systems in biosphere reserve buffer zones in Panama and Costa Rica, and coffee sustainability certification programs in El Salvador. Shapiro has published broadly on topics of conservation and development in both academic and applied fora.