Carbon Management

Natural and working lands are important regulators of the terrestrial carbon cycle. As climate change has continued to intensify, so has interest in managing lands for climate change mitigation benefits. Forests in the United States, for example, take up and store more carbon than they emit and therefore are considered carbon sinks. (It is important to note that fossil fuel emissions far outweigh the carbon sink potential of natural and working lands.) Consequently, land managers are seeking ways to maintain and increase carbon uptake and storage on their lands, often while managing for other goals as well. This work begs for taking an ecosystems approach to carbon management, a new perspective to many natural resource professionals.

​

To this end, I have worked with my colleagues at the Northern Institute of Applied Science, as well as partners at the U.S. Forest Service and The Nature Conservancy, to create new resources and training opportunities related to ecosystem carbon science and management. Examples of this work include:

• Carbon Management 101 presentations explaining the basics of forest carbon cycling and how this relates to common management practices (for an example, see recorded webinar here)

• Short, technical primers on specific carbon management-related topics (available for download here, alongside other forest carbon management resources)

• Consultations on specific projects, assisting land managers in translating the best available ecosystem carbon science to management planning and practice

​

If you have questions or curiosities related to carbon management, please reach out.