Project and Report Examples
The Forest Dialogue on Climate Positive Forest Products- Author of Background Paper
Authored the background/scoping paper for The Forest Dialogue’s (TFD) virtual scoping dialogue on Climate Positive Forest Products (CPFP). The scoping dialogue, which convened in may of 2021, aimed to facilitate collaboration and build an understanding and agreement amongst stakeholders around the opportunities, challenges, and knowledge gaps related to utilizing forest products as a climate change mitigation tool. The background paper, titled "Climate Benefits and Challenges Related to "Mass Timber" Construction, from frame to forests,” intended to synthesize the current knowledge and research on the implications of mass timber on carbon stocks and climate and identify areas of broad disagreement to be discussed. In 2022, co-authored the Finland Field Dialogue background paper, titled, "Current State of Mass Timber and Wood Product Value Chains in Europe"
Family Forest Carbon Project- Forest Carbon Scientist and Insetting Expert
I have been working as a science consultant for the American Forest Foundation (AFF) on the Family Forest Carbon Program (FFCP) since February of 2018. FFCP is a unique project that aims to create a program to incentivize the protection and enhancement of forest carbon by family forest owners in order to improve forest health and resilience. I am representing AFF on the World Resources Institute GHG Protocol Land Sector Technical Working Group in an effort to make it possible for small landowners to implement sustainable forest management practices by connecting them with corporate investors.
I facilitate a group of about 30 wood product LCA experts, representing academia, government agencies, industry associations, and consultants in both the U.S. and Canada. We use life cycle analysis methodology to assess the environmental impacts of wood products across its lifetime in an effort to produce environmental product declarations, improve and inform policy. In this role I help facilitate collaboration between LCA experts, compile life cycle inventory data, educate stakeholders, and generate new LCAs.
Carbon in Oregon's Managed Forests Science Review Co-Author
Authored Chapter 3 in the 2020 report, Carbon in Oregon's Managed Forests. This chapter, titled “Managing Forests to Increase their Carbon Storage, Productivity, and Resiliency,” aimed to summarize the potential of Oregon’s forest lands to reduce atmospheric carbon and mitigate climate change. Mitigation can be accomplished by implementing management strategies that will enhance forest health and resiliency and allow for the reduction of emissions and the increase of carbon sequestration. This chapter summarizes a variety of management strategies that will create and maintain healthy resilient forests in Oregon that will most effectively reduce atmospheric carbon.
Society of American Forestry Policy Committee Member
I am currently a member of the Society of American Forestry (SAF), which aims to advance sustainable management of forest resources through science, education, and technology. I am serving on the SAF Policy Committee, which is a 3-year term (2021-2024). The Policy Committee writes SAFs position statements, which serve as a foundation to guide SAFs actions on particular issues and act as a catalyst to further dialogue and engagement with policymakers, the media, partner organizations, and SAF units. Here is a link to the comprehensive list of SAF position statements, Position Statements (eforester.org)
Author, ThinkWood Continuing Education Unit on How to Calculate the Carbon Footprint of a Building
In Collaboration with Architectural Record, I authored the report titled “How to Calculate the Carbon Footprint of a Wood Building.” This report aims to describe the methods used to measure the carbon footprint of wood building materials and the ways that these measurements can be used to reduce a building’s carbon footprint. This report synthesizes the capacity of wood infrastructure to mitigate climate change under conditions of responsible forest management that will enhance forest health and resiliency.
Global Warming Mitigating Role of Wood Products from Washington State’s Private Forests Co-Author
This study applies a radiative forcing analysis to Washington State’s private forestlands in order to assess the role of Washington’s wood products industry on the State’s GHG emissions and the post-harvest carbon sequestration benefits. By modeling the global warming potential of various wood products and assessing Washington’s wood product mix, we were able to conclude that Washington State’s wood products industry has a net mitigating effect on global warming, even after factoring in the GHG emissions, associated with the harvest and manufacturing.
In my article "The Past, Present and Future of Forest Carbon," published in the Society of American Forester’s 2020 edition of the Western Forester Journal, I share my insights about forest carbon and climate change.
Although the establishment of the IPPC in 1988 paved the way to a global understanding of GHG effects and mitigation strategies, there is still conflicting scientific information on the multifaceted impacts of forests and forest products and the role that varying forest management strategies play. These disagreements have led to discoordinated mitigation efforts on a global and national level.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding carbon accounting and forest management, there is clear consensus that forests and forest products play an important role in climate change mitigation. Through policies that aim to utilize the forest sector to offset industrial emissions and clarify how to account for the role of the biogenic carbon cycle, forests can be managed to both increase carbon sequestration and reduce carbon emissions. In order to increase global alignment on GHG mitigation strategies through the lens of the forest sector, it is crucial to come to a more clear consensus of the questions at hand and seek an improved understanding of scientific data and diverse stakeholder perspectives.