The Humans of Calyx Global

An interview with Deborah Lawrence, Chief Scientist of Calyx Global

This is the first in a series where we will highlight members of the Calyx Global team. We believe our most valuable asset is our human capital, and we hope to celebrate that through this series.

Could you please briefly describe your role at Calyx Global?

I am the chief scientist at calyx. I think of myself as being the person who ensures the scientific integrity of our ratings process. I’ve been focused so far on the nature side of our portfolio- grasslands, deforestation, deforestation, biochar, blue carbon, improved forest management. But there’s science at the heart of all that we do at Calyx.?

Before starting at Calyx, you were a tenured professor of Environmental Science at the University of Virginia. What motivated you to join Calyx?

Feeling like I wanted to be a climate warrior. I have been teaching for over 20 years. For the last 10 I have been focusing exclusively on climate change. At the end of my classes, I make a pitch for how students can take what they’re learning out into the world and address climate change. And in the last few years I thought, well, am I making climate change my life’s work? I felt one step removed… And so it’s been really great to take this leave from UVA and work every day on climate change. I am thinking hard as a scientist but all in the context of helping inform decisions that affect the planet.

How is science related to carbon credit ratings?

There is science in all the questions we ask to rate a carbon project. We ask things like “is the forest in this project going to be protected anyways?” That is in some ways a question of context, but in some ways it is also a science question- for instance, we can use remote sensing to answer the question- was the forest growing anyway? Or is the forest growing now? So the science is everywhere and - it’s really the heart of the quantitative metrics we use to think about the greenhouse gas accounting. So where is the carbon, where is it going, how much, with what precision, and do we think that processes that they say are happening are really happening, and at the rate they claim? So I bring to bear 25 years of experience as a researcher and as an academic…answering questions like “how is carbon moving in the system?” and “what role is this project playing in making those carbon flows the right direction?”

What do you enjoy most about your work with Calyx Global (can you describe a moment when you felt really inspired/passionate/excited about the work you were doing)?

Well, I am learning a ton. Having been a professor for 20 years, it’s sort of sad to say that I don’t feel like I’ve been learning hard for a long time. I got used to doing what I do, and my learning was incremental. But boy, every day I’m learning something new about how you can integrate science into risk assessments, and how you can think about science as one part of a framework for integrity. I love deep thinking about what projects are doing in the context of what I know about how the natural world works. I’m thinking about the carbon cycle in a whole new way.?

How has your science background impacted your worldview??

I’ve worked on hard problems. How can we use the rainforest, without using it up? Does diversity matter? How does biodiversity affect forest function? How do forests affect the climate system? How can we use land to provide food, fuel and forests for people and at the same time, ensure the health of the planet? Those are tall order questions. Science has carried me through- I love thinking about problems in a systematic way, digging hard when I get a bunch of data to try to understand what’s going on. Over the course of my career I have been someone who has been out in the field, measuring trees, collecting soil, leaf & litter samples and analyzing them in the lab. I’ve also worked with remote sensing, trying to understand from space what you can learn. And I’ve also worked with climate models and global models to try to understand things at a very large scale. I love being able to use all of these tools to try to pick apart pieces of these questions. What matters, how does it matter?

Calyx Global:? Our company is extremely fortunate to have Deborah’s wisdom and knowledge supporting our mission – Better Markets for the Planet and for People.? We appreciate her generosity of spirit …and levity!? Every day is a fun day working with Professor Lawrence.