DIGGING DEEPER: NEW TOOLS, NEW DATA, AND THE FUTURE OF SOIL CARBON
Soil carbon holds vast potential – for climate mitigation, ecosystem protection, and farm economics – but realizing that potential requires combining new scientific understandings with widespread access to innovative tools and financial incentives to protect and improve soil carbon. New models and technological tools offer greater opportunities for farmers to understand the myriad opportunities available with the adoption of regenerative practices.
Bruno Basso
John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor and MSU Research Foundation Professor at Michigan State University, Co-Founder & Chief Science Officer, The Soil Inventory Project, and Co-Founder of CIBO Technologies
Dr. Bruno Basso is the Hannah Distinguished Professor and Research Foundation Professor at Michigan State University. He is an international recognized agricultural systems scientist. His research focuses on sustainable agriculture. He holds global patents on remote sensing and crop modeling for improving crop productivity, ecosystems services and sustainability.
He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), a Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy, and a Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America.
He is a member of the Board of Agriculture and Natural Resources of the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM). He is a member of the Biological and Environmental Research Advisory Committee (BERAC) of the Department of Energy, Office of Science.
He has published more than 250 papers. He is ranked 2% of top scientist across all discipline (Standford Univ). He is the cofounder of CIBO Technology (start-up) and The Soil Inventory Project (NGO). He received his PhD from Michigan State University.
Kris Covey
Co-Founder & President, The Soil Inventory Project, and Associate Professor, Environmental Studies and Sciences, Skidmore College
Kris Covey is an Associate Professor in the Environmental Studies and Sciences Program at Skidmore College, where he studies terrestrial ecosystems and their role in climate and life. An Applied Ecologist and a Biogeochemist, Kris works to integrate his research into solutions for managing human-dominated landscapes for multiple values. After designing the global study that provided the first robust estimate of number of trees on earth (3.04 trillion), Kris turned his focus to large-scale soil carbon mapping using a novel combination of existing technologies.
In 2020, Kris co-founded The Soil Inventory Project (TSIP). Together with private, industry, academic, and foundation partners, TSIP is establishing confidence in agricultural impact claims by providing foundational data infrastructure accessible to all and free from commercial conflict. TSIP leverages its app-based automated sampling design and distributed soil collection tools allowing anyone to collect near-surface soil samples, holds data in public trust, and releases regional scale models capable of linking individual producer practices to measurable outcomes.
Britt Lundgren
Senior Director of Sustainability and Government Affairs, Lactalis USA
Britt Lundgren is the Senior Director of Sustainability and Government Affairs at Lactalis USA, where she leads sustainability strategy for the Stonyfield brand. She has two decades of experience advancing agricultural and industrial sustainability through policy and supply chain initiatives in both the non-profit and business sectors. She holds a Master of Science in Agriculture, Food, and Environment from Tufts University. Britt serves on the boards of the Organic Trade Association, the Sustainable Food Lab, and the New Hampshire Conservation Law Foundation, and co-chairs the board for the Northeast Organic Family Farm Partnership. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband and daughter, and is an avid fiddle player.