“A Fitness Tracker for the Planet”
… using micrometeorology approaches to help measure the impacts of regenerative agriculture on soil carbon
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A message just sent out by the Café Sci team at the Sidmouth Science Festival:
The next Cafe Scientifique will take place on Tuesday 17th January 2023 at 3.00pm when Dr Beccy Mitchell will talk about A Fitness Tracker for the Planet – Measuring carbon flows for Nature Based Solutions to climate change
People often think about planting trees as the key ‘nature based solution’ to climate change, but with increasing interest in the restoration of soil health as a means of capturing carbon it’s critical that there are robust technologies for measuring these improvements. Quanterra are an Exeter based start-up who are using micrometeorology approaches to help measure the impacts of regenerative agriculture on soil carbon in the UK and USA. Beccy will talk a bit about Quanterra’s journey to date and upcoming plans.
Beccy completed a PhD in Applied Maths at University of Exeter before embarking on roles in the investment management sector, Met Office and University of Exeter. In 2021 she co-founded Quanterra with colleagues from University of Exeter, taking the role of CEO.
Please note that this event will be live at the Cellar Bar at Kennaway House, Coburg Road EX10 8NG. You will be expected to pay £2.50 entrance which includes a hot drink. (Or pay £2.50 for a hot drink and then come in free!) Please come prepared.
These ideas are being explored more and more widely – including by the UK government: Nature-based Solutions for Climate Change at the Landscape Scale: a new £12.5m pilot programme – Natural England and Carbon Trading – COP26 Impact Policy Report_vRR Clean Version_v5.docx
By academics: Fact Sheet: Nature-Based Solutions to Climate Change | American University, Washington, DC
And by professionals who work in the field: Nature-Based Solutions Initiative | Evaluating nature-based solutions for climate mitigation and conservation requires comprehensive carbon accounting and Q&A: Can ‘nature-based solutions’ help address climate change? | carbonbrief.org
Quanterra are right at the forefront of the research: Quanterra Systems | LinkedIn
Among the accelerator participants are Exeter-based Quanterra Systems, which is creating a measurement solution for the indicators of ecosystem health. Microsoft selects AI start-ups to accelerate progress on environmental sustainability | news.microsoft.com
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