Dr Margaret Kamar was born in Keiyo, Kenya, on 28 April 1959. In 1983 she obtained a BSc. in Agriculture, (Hon in Soil and Water Conservation). In 1986 Med Soil Science, by McGill University, Canada, and in 1992 a PhD in Soil and Water Conservation from the Faculty of Forestry and Conservation of the University of Toronto, Canada.
Dr Kamar became Professor of Soil Science at Moi University in 1999. She has over 20 years lectured specializing in Soil and Water Conservation and Land Use Management. She has lectured, supervised projects and theses, and published papers and chapters in books. In 1988 she served as Soils Consultant in UNEP during the development of the Desertification Map.
D. Kamar joined Moi University administration as the Head of Forestry Department, School of Natural Resources, rising to College Principal (Chepkoilel) then Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Research and Extension; Spearheaded developments of Research and Intellectual Property Rights policies of the university.
From 1999-2006 member East African Legislative Assembly and chaired the committee on Environment, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Tourism and led the delegation to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) to South Africa in 2002. In 2008 Dr Kamar became Member of Parliament and served in Speakers Panel and became founder chair of Parliamentary Caucus on Natural Resources, Environment and Climate change (PANAREC). From 2008-2010 she was the leader of delegation to the African, Caribbean and Pacific and European Union Joint Parliamentary Assembly (ACP-EU JPA) where she chaired the social committee which covered, Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change and Socio-political situations, and convened the 2nd African Parliamentarians Forum on Climate Change hosted by UNEP, Nairobi. In 2010-2011 she served as Assistant Minister Environment and Mineral Resources and in 2011-2013 she was Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology.
In 2013 she became Director at the International Centre for Research in Sustainable Development an NGO involved in research and education in sustainable development.