Simon comes from a project development background and is a respected technical expert with 15+ years of experience in developing and implementing CDR standards and methodologies. He has led and participated in teams to develop Verra's VM0044 Biochar methodology, both Isometric and Puro's Enhanced Rock Weathering methodologies and now new standards for both BECCS and DACCS, commissioned by the UK government.
Simon is now Director of CDR for Sylvera, where he leads their team delivering data, assessments and insights to key stakeholders in the voluntary carbon market.
Dr. David Hughes serves as the Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Global Food Security at Penn State University, where he also holds professorships in entomology and biology. As the founder of PlantVillage, a Penn State initiative, Dr. Hughes leads efforts to enhance global food security by integrating artificial intelligence, mobile technology, and community networks. PlantVillage empowers smallholder farmers across Africa, Asia, and the Americas to combat pests and adapt to climate change by leveraging AI-driven tools and youth-led ground networks.
Building upon this mission, Dr. Hughes established PlantVillage+, a private enterprise partially owned by Penn State. This venture aims to alleviate poverty and address climate change by offering paid services to farmers, corporations, and governments, while continuing to support public AI research. Notably, PlantVillage+ allocates 30% of its profits to workers and farmers, 10% to its charitable arm—the Village Youth Fund—and 5% to assist governments in accessing advanced technologies and AI solutions.
Dr. Hughes also directs the USAID Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Current and Emerging Threats to Crops, focusing on developing scalable solutions for agricultural challenges. His pioneering research on parasite-host interactions, including the renowned "zombie ant" studies, has garnered international acclaim and media attention.
For those interested in exploring themes related to science, innovation, and socio-economic systems, Dr. Hughes recommends the following readings:
Letters to a Young Scientist by Edward O. Wilson: https://www.amazon.com/Letters-Young-Scientist-Edward-Wilson/dp/0871403773
The Big Con by Mariana Mazzucato: https://marianamazzucato.com/books/the-big-con/
Vulture Capitalism by Grace Blakeley: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Vulture-Capitalism/Grace-Blakeley/9781982180867
Paul Gambill is a pioneering entrepreneur in the carbon removal space, best known as the co-founder and former CEO of Nori, where he raised over $18 million to build one of the first carbon removal marketplaces. Under his leadership, Nori facilitated the removal of over 260,000 tonnes of CO₂ and established partnerships with major players like Bayer Crop Science.
Today, Paul leads CarbonRemoval.com, a platform dedicated to reimagining carbon markets for true atmospheric impact. Through his writing on Inevitable & Obvious, he challenges prevailing market structures and advocates for scalable, resilient solutions to the climate crisis. With a systems-level perspective and hands-on experience, Paul continues to shape the future of carbon removal.
Mats Larsson is the founder of Global Energy Transformation Institute. He has over 30 years’ experience as a business and management consultant, developing business strategies for companies in many different industries. He has worked with the large-scale transformation to electromobility and sustainability since 2004, leading a sequence of projects. This work has resulted in five internationally published books, starting with Global Energy Transformation, published in 2009, then The Business of Global Energy Transformation 2012, Circular Business Models 2018, Redrawing the Map of the Future 2019, and The Blind Guardians of Ignorance 2020.
In Global Energy Transformation 2009 Mats launched the idea that the large-scale change to electromobility and a sustainable society will require large-scale transformation programmes. He has since then elaborated on this idea and developed strategies for various aspects of the transformations, such as the expansion of vehicle fleets and charging infrastructure, power generation and distribution, the development of training programmes for the groups of professionals that need to become involved in the change, and development of the companies and business models that will be needed.
Over the years, he has supported hundreds of companies in a large number of industries with business development and growth strategies.
Mats lives in southern Sweden with his wife.
Book links:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Severe-Economic-Consequences-Electric-Vehicles-ebook/dp/B0CTX6KRBN/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?https://www.amazon.co.uk/Building-Future-Really-Works-Electromobility-What-ebook/dp/B0CFN41YBK/ref=sr_1_1?
Industrial Engineer and Political Scientist, Fulbright scholar for a master’s degree in Sustainable Development at the University of Maryland. More than 20 years of experience as a consultant and technical advisor in sustainability projects in the private sector. More than 3 years of wide-ranging expertise and work experience in the Colombian Ministry of Environment, designing and implementing public policies for the protection of ecosystems and the competitiveness of productive sectors, representing and advising the minister in boards, committees, and other multi stakeholder exchange forums.
Key developer and designer of the Colombian National Circular Economy Strategy, and climate action instruments. Former delegate and board member in the OECD’s Environmental Policy Committee
As CEO of Cercarbono, he is in charge of strengthening and positioning the standard globally.
Email:alexsaer@cercarbono.com
Pawel is a tech entrepreneur with a past experience in healthcare, fintech and e-commerce. Currently in climate tech, Pawel started WasteX in mid-2022 to tackle the climate crisis by developing biochar solutions for carbon removal and agricultural benefits. He lives in Indonesia, where most of the WasteX operations are based.
Company website: https://www.wastex.io/
Pawel's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pawelkuznicki/
Dr. Annalisa Bracco is a professor and Associate Chair for Research in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She is interested in using computation tools to better understand how our oceans work and the interactions between physics and biology across marine ecosystems. Her research group uses models, artificial intelligence and observations to study ocean transport, biogeochemical interactions, climate dynamics and carbon cycling in the climate system. Most recently she has been researching how coral reefs may exchange larvae, plastic pollution in the Gulf of Mexico, ocean mixing near seamounts and marine carbon dioxide removal through Sargassum algae and alkalinity enhancement.
In this episode, I sit down with Thea and Stefan, the visionary founders of Proon-Tech, a startup revolutionising biodiversity conservation and reforestation through AI-driven innovation. We explore their journey in creating cutting-edge technologies that tackle the global biodiversity crisis, the challenges of scaling green tech solutions, and the real-world impact of their projects. Tune in to hear their inspiring story, success stories from the field, and what’s next for Proon-Tech in their mission to protect our planet. https://www.proon-tech.com/
Dominic Hafner is a leader at Carbon Standards International, where he spearheads the Global Artisan C-Sink Standard. This initiative aims to transform the role of smallholder farmers within the global climate narrative by merging carbon financing with sustainable biochar practices. Under his guidance, the program not only achieves significant environmental milestones but also fosters long-term economic empowerment for communities in the global south. Dominic's efforts are central to integrating innovative carbon removal technologies with grassroots agricultural practices, making a substantial impact on both local and global scales.
For more information or to contact Dominic go to THIS LINK.
Currently serving as Senior Program Manager at Brainforest, Camille Accolas is dedicated to bridging the gap between founders, experts, and funders through the Brainforest Venture Program. She brings extensive experience in consulting, project management, and sustainability across both public and private sectors. Camille is skilled in biodiversity impact evaluation, sustainability reporting, and developing corporate strategies. She holds a Master's degree in Globalisation, Business, and Development from the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) at the University of Sussex. Links:
Brainforest Venture Program:
https://brainforest.global/venture-program Brainforest Newsletter: https://brainforest.global/newsletter Fundraising accelerators (with focus on female founders): https://www.helenawasserman.com/unstoppable; https://www.consideredcapital.io/ Other biodiversity accelerators: https://www.tech4regeneration.ch/; https://www.biodiversity-accelerator.com/; https://accelerator.norrsken.org/
Wangari Kuria is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Farmer on Fire Global Consultancy seeking to eliminate hunger and improve safe food production.
An Agripreneur with a rich background as a farmer, aggregator, and an expert on the value-chain. She is renowned as one of the pioneers of making agriculture appealing by creating captivating videos on farming and challenging many online to engage and act.
She is at the frontline in partnership with global partners with a focus on small scale farmers to reduce barriers for youth and women entry into the agribusiness.
Website: www.farmeronfire.com
Email- Farmeronfire1@gmail.com
Phone- +254720448250/ +254721444655
Facebook: FB Page
WIAS 2024 event - Event Page
Erin Grover advises on emerging technologies for the verification of climate impact, food security, and regenerative supply chain transparency. This includes the application of blockchain, AI, and IoT innovation.
She is a strong advocate for using these technologies to improve the lives of smallholder farmers in the Global South. Her drive comes from her time living with a farming community in the mountains of Nepal in her early 20s. This is where she learned to speak Nepali and learned how to live from the heart.
She has extensively researched emerging DeFi markets in Kenya, Uganda, and India. She is a part of the World Economic Forum's Crypto Sustainability Coalition as a member of the blockchain and carbon working group and has been a featured speaker at the annual meetings of the World Bank, Barclays, and COP28.
Before her work in agritech, she served for the United Nations, USAID, and other international NGOs in Afghanistan, Timor-Leste, Nepal, and Cambodia for over a decade.
Additionally, she has contributed as a journalist to CoinTelegraph, IndieWire, and is currently a featured writer for AGBI.COM (Arabian Gulf Business Insight).
Her previous work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time Magazine, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Mashable, The Times of India, and many other international news sources.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/eringrover/
Dora is responsible for the long-term development and sustainability of Marquis Energy Global, establishing valuable connections with potential markets worldwide. She developed a passion for energy solutions during her 13-year career in the petroleum industry, involved in major capital upstream projects across the globe. Prior to this, she sailed the seas as an officer in the U.S. Navy.
She is a graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy studying Mechanical Engineering, providing a technical foundation to her journey to sustainability.
Now, Dora is a mother of two humans and two dogs and enjoys staying active through running and triathlons.
You can connect with Dora on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doraexplore/
For more on Marquis: https://marquisinc.com
Dries Roobroeck's journey in applied biosciences began with a neighbourhood clean-up he organized as a 10-year-old and deepened when he observed his great uncle's selfless work with rural communities in India at the age of 15. He pursued biological sciences at university, fascinated by the broad range of topics, particularly how nature works. His PhD focused on the cycling of carbon and nitrogen between soil, plants, and the atmosphere in Poland's undisturbed peatlands, giving him profound insights into biogeochemical processes, greenhouse gas emissions, and laboratory and data analytics.
After completing his PhD, Dries had the privilege of conducting a postdoctoral study with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, researching the occurrence and causes of non-responsiveness of crops to synthetic fertilizers in Kenya, Tanzania, DRC, and Nigeria. This work highlighted the pervasive issues of nutrient input inefficiency and soil fertility degradation that trap many small-scale farmers in poverty. Concurrently, he became increasingly involved in research on biochar agronomy and pyrolytic technology, including long-term experimentation, participatory evaluation, upscaled assessment, and system engineering.
Seeing an opportunity for science to solve many of today's complex problems, Dries, along with Aarti Shah, started Co-REGEN to advise agribusinesses on becoming circular and regenerative. They coach these businesses on adopting more reliable power, low carbon heat, and nature-based solutions to improve farming and processing, aiming to enhance their movement up the agricultural value chain while mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. Since late 2022, Dries has been working with PennState University's program PlantVillage, where he has had the opportunity to translate scientific research and ideas into practical applications.
Further viewing/reading:
Video of PlantVillage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huqLMHRNIVA
Video from feasibility in tea sector https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcq_Gf1ES_0
LinkedIN www.linkedin.com/in/driesroobroeck
Contact: Email d.roobroeck@cgiar.org
Jason Dodier is an American international business professional and Co-Founder of the GRAIN Ecosystem, aiming to revolutionize global project development through digitization, transparency, and increased access to capital. His mission focuses on empowering project developers worldwide to meet ambitious waste-to-value, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity goals set by the global climate agenda.
Based in New York City, Jason played a key role in advancing Energy as a Service microgrids in the US, notably contributing to the JFK New Terminal One Microgrid. This project, soon to be the largest rooftop terminal solar array in the US, showcases his dedication to digital transformation and sustainability.
With a career spanning the US, Middle East, and Europe, Jason's experience in operations, business development, marketing, and sales management at Schneider Electric has refined his expertise.
Currently, Jason serves as a sustainability ambassador, advocating for the integration of IT and educational reform. He delivers impactful speeches and builds connections with industry leaders.
Beyond his professional endeavors, Jason co-founded Fountainhead Rhode Island, a notable non-profit known for transformative initiatives in the New England region. His roles in sustainable energy solutions and non-profit leadership underscore his commitment to a more sustainable future. Jason holds an MBA from Georgetown University and a bachelor's degree from Bryant University.
Trina Montemayor is a dedicated professional with over 20 years of experience in the corporate food service industry. She has been an integral part of the success of Order Corner, a web-based company specializing in food ordering for corporate and professional groups of 10 or more.
Throughout her tenure at Order Corner, Trina has worked tirelessly to build and manage a team of exceptional individuals. She has fostered a positive and collaborative work environment, ensuring that each team member feels valued and motivated. Trina's leadership skills have been instrumental in adapting the company's business model to meet the ever-changing needs of the industries they serve and the clients they love.
In March 2020, faced with the unprecedented challenges posed by the global pandemic, Order Corner made the difficult decision to close its doors. However, Trina's dedication to her clients and passion for her work did not waver. Many of her clients reached out to her personally, praising the exceptional work of her team and expressing their gratitude for their invaluable services.
Driven by a strong sense of responsibility and a commitment to her clients, Trina took the next step in her career journey. She founded Trina's Concierge and Catering (TCC), a new venture that operates at a minimal level while adapting to the current environment. Trina ensures that every precaution is taken to keep drivers and staff safe while maintaining the same level of excellence in coordinating and delivering food for professional environments.
Trina's business model extends beyond just food delivery. She also coordinates and delivers other essential items as per client requests, going above and beyond to meet their needs. At TCC, every client is treated with utmost care and respect, and a team-based approach is taken with partner restaurants and caterers to ensure a personalized and perfect experience.
Trina Montemayor is a dedicated professional who thrives on the challenges of the industry. Her adaptability, passion, and commitment to excellence make her a trusted partner for any professional or corporate event.
For more information in Trina and TCC visit: https://trinacc.com
Suzanne Allaire has been working in environmental science for about 30 years with a bachelor degree in agriculture, a master in waste recycling and PhD on contaminant transport in porous media.
She has collaborated with a wide range of industries, private companies, government agencies and research institutions to reduce the impact of humans on the environment by adding value to residues, protecting soils, and improving carbon budget; the last 20 years being mainly on biochar and pyrolysis of residues. She has worked as a full professor at Laval University in Canada for more than 16 years, then started GECA Environnement.
As owner and CEO of GECA Environnement, she works with her team as an expert on derisking and accelerating pyrolysis and biochar project development, including prefeasibilities, pyrolysis products and their markets, product design, technology selection with the Product and Process Teams at GECA. Her Carbon team completes LCAs, feasibilities and develops complete projects of biochar carbon credits in addition to broker the credits for her clients. GECA’s team supports private companies, organizations, and governments of all sizes around the world (in 30 countries over the last 5 years) in various aspects of pyrolysis/gasification of wastes.
Sebastian Manhart is a climate advocate, leveraging his skills and experiences to support policymakers in making better decisions for our planet.
He is currently the Senior Policy Advisor of Carbonfuture, the world's leading provider of high-integrity, durable carbon removal. In this role, he focuses on promoting policies to help scale durable carbon removal in Europe, the United States, and beyond.
Sebastian previously spent a decade as a tech entrepreneur, including being Chief Operating Officer at Simprints, the world’s only nonprofit biometrics company. He also advised Angela Merkel’s Chancellery and worked with governments globally through the World Bank.
Sebastian is an economist with a BA from UCL, an MPhil from Cambridge University, and an ExecEd from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
You can follow Sebastian on LinkedIn, where he shares daily insights with his 25k+ followers.
For Sebastian's Newsletter (sign up here, last version here).
Nathan Létourneau is a Chartered Financial Analyst and the Senior Director of Finance for Ground Up Investing (GUI). In his role, Nathan performs investee due diligence, GUI portfolio analysis and forecasting, and financial oversight of GUI and the wholly owned subsidiaries Mountain Harvest and Farmers Market Brands. In prior roles, Nathan specialized in the health, environment, and education sectors, with a focus on West Africa, Latin America, and MENA regions. Managing everything from operational risk to process efficiencies and audits, he enjoys solving complex international problems that require innovative and flexible solutions. Outside of Finance, Nathan performs professionally on the eastern seaboard of North America as a tenor with opera companies such as the Washington National Opera and in concert halls with various symphony orchestras. Nathan earned his Bilingual Bachelor of Commerce in Finance from the University of Alberta, his Bachelor of Music from the University of Toronto, and his Master of Music from New York University. https://www.groundup-investing.com/
Over the last decade, Helena Wasserman has worked for the Clinton Foundation, Big Data for Humans, Techstars and Top Tier Impact. She helps climate founders unlock sales, fundraising as well as being bolder leaders. She is on a mission to empower 1M climate founders to build scalable solutions to fix climate change. Helena is the founder of Unstoppable and co-founder of Investors for Climate (The Earth Shot Prize nominator, community of 150+ climate investors and private event series). She invests in climate tech and has a portfolio of 10 climate startups and funds including 1 IPO. https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenawasserman/
