Dr. Christian Braneon is Head of Climate Justice at Carbon Direct.
Dr. Braneon leads the integration of climate justice into Carbon Direct’s culture, operations, and services across the carbon management industry.
Background & Bio
Dr. Braneon brings a broad range of experience in climate science and civil engineering as well as environmental and climate justice to Carbon Direct. He co-leads the Environmental Justice and Climate Just Cities Network at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, serves as Co-Chair of the New York City Panel on Climate Change, and sits on the newly formed Center for Climate Solutions’ Advisory Committee, which was established to further New York City’s efforts to respond to the climate crisis.
Prior to joining Carbon Direct, Dr. Braneon served as a climate scientist in the Climate Impacts Group of NASA GISS and as Co-Director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s inaugural Environmental Justice Academy for community leaders.
Education
PhD, Civil Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
MS, Civil Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
BS, Civil Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
BS, Applied Physics
Morehouse College
Awards
Quantification of Historic and Future Changes in Atlantic Coastal Marshes and Implications for Global Modeling
NASA
Robert H. Goddard Award
AXA Award for Climate Science
Climate Action Plan Award
White House
Publications and Features
Dr. Zara Ahmed is a Science Policy and Strategy Manager at Carbon Direct, responsible for policy analysis.
Dr. Ahmed's primary focus is strategic planning, program development, and U.S. policy analysis.
Background & Bio
Prior to working at Carbon Direct, Dr. Ahmed was the Government Affairs and PolicyLead for the COVID-19 Response at the CDC. She rejoined CDC in August 2021 after two years at the Guttmacher Institute as the Associate Director for Federal Issues. Before her time at the Guttmacher Institute, Dr. Ahmed spent 10 years with CDC, including seven years based overseas in Rwanda, Namibia and Haiti as a senior technical advisor, and three years as the Associate Division Director for Policy and Communications in the Division of Global Health Protection at CDC headquarters in Atlanta.
Prior to her time with CDC, Dr. Ahmed worked as a sexual health counselor at an alternative high school in Michigan and as a consultant in Bangladesh on the labor rights of migrant women. Dr. Ahmed has also conducted field research on sex worker rights in Cambodia, health financing in rural Cameroon, and donor coordination of malaria programs in Senegal. She holds a BA in political science from Brown University, MPP and MPH degrees from the University of Michigan, and a DrPH from the University of North Carolina, where she is also an adjunct instructor.
Awards
PhD, Health Leadership and Management
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
MPP, MPH
University of Michigan
BA, Political Science
Brown University
Certificate of Appreciation for Extraordinary Effort and Impact
US Embassy, Port-au-Prince (2016)
Center for Global Health Director’s Award for Partnership
CDC (2015)
Certificate of Appreciation for Exceptional Technical Support
US Embassy, Port-au-Prince (2015)
Publications and Features
Tim works with clients to advise them on carbon reduction strategies and high-quality carbon removal projects.
Background & Bio
Tim’s background and expertise is in climate science and policy. His professional experience spans over 10 years in research and analysis roles where he acquired extensive knowledge of the full spectrum of the research process.
Tim has spent the last seven years working in the climate and energy space. Most recently he worked as a Senior Analyst at the Energy Futures Initiative where he conducted research on large-scale carbon management and mitigation strategies for the difficult-to-abate sectors, including carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere and oceans.
Tim is committed to applying his passion, knowledge, and skills toward the advancement of innovative climate and clean energy solutions.
Education
MA, Climate and Society
Columbia University
MS, Clinical Exercise Physiology
University of Wisconsin, La Crosse
BS, Kinesiology
University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire
Publications and Features
Dr. Wilfried Maas supports clients with strategic advice and due diligence on their clean energy transition.
Dr. Wilfried Maas leads Carbon Direct's engagements with the EU Carbon Dioxide Removal initiatives and certifications. He also leads the workgroup on carbon markets.
Background & Bio
Dr. Maas brings expertise to inform investment decisions and provide strategic advisory services to clients. He brings experience from his 32-year energy career at Shell and from his Joint Industry Collaborations on CCS and Climate (IEAGHG, OGCI, ZEP, IOGP, TCM). He has developed decarbonization pathways for “Net Zero Carbon” production and products for different industrial supply chains based on CCS, electrification, and (blue or green) hydrogen and biomass.
Prior to that, Dr. Maas coordinated the technical development of the global portfolio of commercial scale CCS demonstration projects and the organizational CCS capability. He also contributed to external collaborations for the new business development of CCS as one of the decarbonization solutions for a climate-constrained future. In other roles, he led consultancy teams that developed corporate-wide GHG and energy management governance at capital projects; and he was a front-end development manager for CCS projects.
Dr. Maas is the Director of the CCS Knowledge Centre. He holds a PhD in Physical Organic Chemistry from the University of Amsterdam. He is a Chartered Project Professional (ChPP), a Chartered Engineer (CEng) and an IChemE Fellow (FIChemE).
Education
PhD, Physical Organic Chemistry
University of Amsterdam
MSc, Public Administration (Environment)
University of Amsterdam
Publications and Features
Dr. Bodie Cabiyo works with clients on strategy and procurement to find and vet high-quality carbon offsets projects.
He also leads multiple internal efforts focused on principles and guidance to push the market towards high-quality carbon projects.
Background & Bio
Dr. Cabiyo uses interdisciplinary approaches to investigate nature-based solutions to climate change. He has recently completed his PhD in the Energy and Resources Group at UC Berkeley, where he studied how policy and innovative technology can enable carbon-beneficial forest management. This work bridges industrial ecology, forest economics, and forest ecology.
Dr. Cabiyo's modeling work has focused on the role of innovative wood use in reducing carbon emissions, both in California and East Africa. His applied policy work focuses on improving forest carbon offset protocols. The intent of this work is to promote the more credible translation of carbon dioxide removals to a market context.
Education
PhD, Energy and Resources Group
UC Berkeley
MS, Energy and Resources Group
UC Berkeley
BS
Western Washington University
Awards
Achievement Award
Secretary of Energy
NSF Graduate Research Fellow
Graduate Research Fellowship Program
Presidential Scholar
Huxley School of the Environment
Publications and Features
Alex works with clients to advise them on high-quality carbon reduction and removal solutions.
Background & Bio
Alex is an environmental professional with a background in climate change, land use, environmental markets, and modeling. His experience spans science-based research, project management, and strategy.
Prior to joining Carbon Direct, Alex ran his own independent consulting group, Dolginow Consulting, where he advised clients on environmental issues. His projects have included helping to create a greenhouse gas emissions model and advising on philanthropic grantmaking to slow deforestation.
Education
MS, Energy and Resources Group
UC Berkeley
BA
Harvard University
Publications and Features
Micah Macfarlane leads Carbon Direct’s commercial teams, scaling high quality solutions for carbon management.
Specifically, Micah helps clients engage in the carbon market to secure, grow and integrate the highest quality carbon management solutions into their climate plans and businesses.
Background & Bio
Over the course of his career, Micah has structured and negotiated >$2B in deals for supply creation and built supply deals and rollouts in over 90 countries. Prior to joining Carbon Direct, Micah worked as Vice President in Energy Private Equity with the SUN Group leading renewables, EV and alternative fuel investments.
Before that, Micah spent a decade developing Advance Market Commitments, public/private partnerships, and investment structures for vaccines and other medical products – leading programs with the Gates Foundation Strategic Investment Fund, the Asian Development Bank, and the Clinton Health Access Initiative.
Education
BA
Middlebury
MBA
Harvard Business School
Awards
Horace W. Goldsmith Fellow
John H. McArthur Fellow
Publications and Features
Elisse leads brand marketing and PR at Carbon Direct.
Elisse works in partnership with the Science, Product, Design, and Sales teams to build the Carbon Direct brand story. Elisse also manages the PR function at Carbon Direct.
Background & Bio
Elisse brings 10+ years of experience in marketing and communications. As a once-upon-a-time English major, Elisse firmly believes in the power of a good story to change minds, perceptions, and even behaviors. Her personal mission is to build a better, more equal, and more sustainable future for all -- a future in which both people and planet thrive, together.
Prior to working at Carbon Direct, Elisse was a Marketing Manager at Google on their Brand, YouTube Social Media, and Google Cloud teams. It was in the latter position that she founded their inaugural Data for Good program to enable nonprofits and social entrepreneurs to apply big data solutions to real-world challenges. During that time, Elisse recognized the importance of driving clarity in the climate sector in order to drive action -- and so decided to pursue additional graduate study to develop her knowledge of environmental science as well as core management skills.
At the Yale School of Management and Yale School of the Environment, Elisse is a joint-degree MBA/ MEM candidate specializing in Climate Justice and Carbon Management. Her research is focused on indigenous carbon management and nature-based carbon sequestration.
Elisse is a passionate DEI advocate and is dedicated to advancing the representation of diverse perspectives. She is a Consortium Fellow, Forté Fellow, and member of Carbon Direct's Climate Justice Committee.
Education
MBA '23
Yale School of Management
MEM '23
Yale School of the Environment
BA, English Literature & Hispanic Studies
Columbia University
Awards
Consortium Fellow
Consortium for Graduate Study in Management
Forté Fellow
Forté Foundation
Publications and Features
Dr. Jacob Bukoski is a Science Advisor at Carbon Direct for forest management.
Background & Bio
Dr. Bukoski's research broadly focuses on the conservation, management, and restoration of forests globally. Through his research, he has been fortunate enough to work in forests across the globe - including Thailand, Vietnam, Vanuatu, Brazil, California, and New England.
Dr. Bukoski completed his Ph.D. at the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management at the University of California, Berkeley, and his M.Sc. in Forest Science at Yale University’s School of Forestry. He also holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Bukoski is also currently an Associate Editor at the Journal of Sustainable Forestry.
Education
PhD, Environmental Science, Policy, and Management
University of California, Berkeley
MSc, Forest Science
Yale School of the Environment
BA, Environmental Studies
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Publications and Features
Nili Gilbert, CFA, CAIA, is the Vice Chairwoman of Carbon Direct.
Background & Bio
Nili is the Chair of the US$130+ Trillion Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero’s (GFANZ) Advisory Panel of technical experts, as well as a member of its CEO Principals Group. Nili also sits as the Chair of US Policy for the UN-Convened Asset Owner Alliance. In addition to serving as a board member and Chairwoman of the Investment Committees of both the David Rockefeller Fund and the Synergos Institute, she is a Senior Advisor at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and a member of the Social Mission Board of Seventh Generation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Unilever.
Previously, she was Co-Founder and Portfolio Manager of Matarin Capital, which became one of the larger women-owned asset managers in the US. She has previously served as a member of the State of California’s Climate-Related Financial Risk Advisory Group.
Education
BA
Harvard University
MBA
Columbia Business School
Awards
Young Global Leader
World Economic Forum
TopVoice in Finance
Entrepreneur of the Year
National Association of Securities Professionals
“One to Watch”
Bloomberg BusinessWeek
Member
Council on Foreign Relations
Member
Economic Club of New York
Publications and Features
Dr. Matthew Potts leads Carbon Direct’s international science team in their work on decarbonizing the global economy.
Specifically, Dr. Potts helps clients assess high quality carbon removal from managed landscapes and works to ensure climate actions are just and equitable. He also works closely with Carbon Direct’s technology team to integrate science, software and product.
Background & Bio
Dr. Potts draws on his interdisciplinary background with formal training in mathematics, ecology, and economics to inform his work in nature and community based climate solutions.
Dr. Potts has over two decades of experience in resource management issues in low- and middle-income countries. Though currently on leave from UC Berkeley, this expertise supports his work as the S.J. Hall Professor in Forest Economics at the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, & Management and as the Associate Director for Sustainable Development, Blum Center for Developing Economies, where he leads an interdisciplinary lab that focuses on the co-production by human and natural systems of ecosystem services and natural pathways for carbon sequestration.
Dr. Potts recently served as a coordinating lead author on the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Land Degradation and Restoration Assessment.
Education
Ph.D. Applied Mathematics 2001
Harvard University
A.M. Applied Mathematics 1999
Harvard University
B.S. Mathematics 1996
University of Michigan
Awards
NRT-AI: Digital Transformation of Development (DToD), $3,000,000 (2021-2026)
US National Science Foundation
INCLUDES Alliance: Broadening Career Pathways in Food, Energy, and Water Systems with and within Native American Communities (Native FEWS Alliance), $7,071,915 (2021-2026)
US National Science Foundation
Coordinating Lead Author, Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, Land Degradation and Restoration Assessment (2015-2018)
Publications and Features
Pete Smith, PhD
Science Advisor
Soil Carbon
Dr. Pete Smith is a Science Advisor for soil carbon.
His main areas of expertise are in modeling greenhouse gas / carbon mitigation, ecosystem service trade-offs, biological carbon sequestration, global food systems modeling, and greenhouse gas removal technologies.
Background & Bio
Dr. Smith is Professor of Soils & Global Change at the University of Aberdeen and Science Director of Scotland’s Centre of Expertise on Climate Change. After obtaining a PhD in 1991, Dr. Smith worked as a Higher- then Senior-Scientific Officer at the MAFF Central Science Laboratory until 1994. He then worked as a Band 6 and Band 5 Senior Research Scientist at Rothamsted Research before joining the University of Aberdeen as a Senior Lecturer in 2001.
Dr. Smith became a Reader in 2003, and Professor of Soils & Global Change in 2005. His main areas of expertise are in modeling greenhouse gas / carbon mitigation, bioenergy, biological carbon sequestration, global food systems modeling and greenhouse gas removal technologies.
Dr. Smith is co-leader with Prof Jo Smith of the Environmental Modelling Group (2 Academic staff, 2 Senior Research Fellows, 15 Post-docs, 12 PhDs). He is also Science Director of Scotland's Climate Change Centre of Expertise, and was Director of Food Systems of the Scottish Food Security Alliance-Crops, and Theme Leader of the University-wide theme, Environment and Food Security, until 2015. He is editor for Global Change Biology and Global Change Biology Bioenergy.
Education
PhD
Awards
Fellow
The Royal Society of Biology
Wolfson Research Merit Award
The Royal Society
Fellow
Institute of Soil Scientists
Fellow
Royal Society of Edinburgh
Publications and Features
Dr. Colin McCormick provides science and technology expertise across a wide range of engineered carbon removal methods and industrial decarbonization sectors.
He also supports Carbon Direct’s work in remote sensing, life-cycle analysis, and carbon removal policy analysis.
Background & Bio
Dr. Colin McCormick previously served as the Senior Advisor for R&D at the US Department of Energy where he helped oversee the full applied energy research portfolio, and as a Professional Staff Member for the House Science & Technology Committee. Prior to this he conducted research in applied quantum optics and atomic physics at UC Berkeley and NIST. He is an Adjunct Professor in the Science, Technology and International Affairs program, Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.
Education
PhD, Physics
UC Berkeley
MA, Physics
UC Berkeley
MA, Astrophysics
Cambridge University
BA, English and Physics
Williams College
Awards
Secretary of Energy Achievement Award
Getting to Neutral report (2021)
Publications and Features
Sarah Braverman brings her passion for and knowledge of climate mitigation strategies to her role as Client Project Manager.
She worked for several years in the environmental nonprofit sector, both domestically and internationally, in a variety of capacities, including project management and external partnership development. During this time, she visited 40 US states and 26 countries.
Background & Bio
She recently completed a Master of Public Administration with a concentration in Environmental Science and Policy from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. While completing her graduate degree, she worked as a Student Research Officer for the Carbon Management Research Initiative at Columbia’s Center on Global Energy Policy. For her capstone with the Natural Resources Defense Council, she managed a team of graduate consultants in their endeavor to develop policy recommendations for managing HFC emissions.
Education
Master of Public Administration
Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs
Publications and Features
Jon is the Founder and CEO of Carbon Direct, scaling carbon management into a global industry to combat climate change through science and software.
Background & Bio
Jon has over 15 years of experience in energy investing and project finance. Prior to launching Carbon Direct, he was the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of BBL Commodities, a commodity hedge fund. Jon started his career at J. Aron, the commodities division of Goldman Sachs where he managed a large proprietary trading book across global macro markets with an emphasis on commodities. Jon was then a partner at Glencore, managing the firm’s US derivative business prior to its IPO.
Jon's focus on climate change and negative emissions extends to his work at Columbia University where he sits on the board of the Center on Global Energy Policy. He has been a lecturer on energy issues at the university and helps steer the Carbon Dioxide Management program. He is also an advisor to Lawrence Livermore National Lab on negative emissions.
Education
BA, Economics
Yale University
Awards
Board Member
Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University
Publications and Features
Dr. Julio Friedmann is Chief Scientist at Carbon Direct.
He works directly with clients, the Science team, and the leadership of Carbon Direct to solve major technical challenges around carbon management and CO2 removal.
Background & Bio
Dr. Friedmann recently served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Fossil Energy at the Department of Energy where he was responsible for DOE’s R&D program in advanced fossil energy systems, carbon capture, and storage (CCS), CO2 utilization, and clean coal deployment. More recently, he was a Senior Research Scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia. He has held positions at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, including Chief Energy Technologist.
Dr. Friedmann is one of the most widely known and authoritative experts in the U.S. on carbon removal (CO2 drawdown from the air and oceans), CO2 conversion and use (carbon-to-value), hydrogen, industrial decarbonization, and carbon capture and sequestration.
Education
Ph.D. in Geology
University of Southern California
MS, Geology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
BS, Music
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Awards
Greenman award (Lifetime achievement in CCS)
International Energy Agency: IEA
