ESMC Team

The ESMC team supports all efforts of ESMC and EcoHarvest market program development. Come meet our fantastic team below.

Ryan Tregaskes serves as ESMC’s CEO and leads ESMC’s research and ecosystem services market program, Eco-Harvest. Growing up on a farm, Ryan brings the operational and leadership capabilities ESMC needs to serve the membership, project implementers, and most importantly, agriculture producers.

Ryan has held pivotal executive roles, including serving as the Founder and CEO of Grow Right Solutions, COO of Evergreen Carbon Offsets, and Carbon Principal at Anthesis Group. He has led market expansion, capital strategy, and leveraged innovative technologies like blockchain and AI to drive transparency, scalability, and trust across environmental markets. With a deep-rooted background in agriculture and soil science, Ryan has played a key role in regenerative agriculture, soil carbon sequestration, and sustainable supply chain transformation. His early career at Helena Agri-Enterprises as a Senior Sales Representative and Agronomist provided him with foundational expertise in plant pathology, soil chemistry, and crop yield optimization—critical insights that he has applied to carbon farming and sustainable land-use projects. Committed to driving global impact, Ryan is focused on unlocking scalable solutions that bridge climate finance, agriculture, and corporate sustainability to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Throughout his career, Ryan has successfully scaled businesses, led fundraising efforts, and managed P&L responsibilities, demonstrating a strong track record in operational growth and strategic partnerships. His leadership has been instrumental in securing investment, driving revenue expansion, and developing business models that align financial performance with environmental impact.

Ryan lives in Texas with his wife and son where he enjoys competing in equestrian events as a family, autocrossing, and spending time outdoors.

As ESMC’s President, Alana leads the organization’s work to create meaningful partnerships to scale projects, engage farmers in conservation practices and meet corporate buyer needs for credits used in reporting. Additionally, she works with the project management team to oversee projects and streamline processes. She also works to target and recruit new members to ESMC’s public private partnership.

Prior to working at ESMC, Alana managed programs at a non-profit business accelerator that supported ag and food start-ups working to build a more resilient food system. There she also ran an annual conference that highlighted current issues in ag/food and promising start-ups in the space. Alana worked on a regenerative livestock operation in Connecticut to learn about alternatives to industrial operations and understand how rotational grazing can help build soil health. She has an MSc in Environmental Protection & Management from The University of Edinburgh and holds a B.A. in Economic & Social History from Barnard College. 

As Chief Financial Officer for ESMC/ESMRC, Margarita leads the finance function while developing and implementing financial strategic short- and long-term initiatives. Working closely with the ESMC/ESMRC Executive Director, leadership team, Board of Directors, major philanthropic funders, members and partners, Margarita ensures the alignment and advancement of ESMC/ESMRC’s strategic vision and the ongoing financial health of the organization.

Prior to joining ESMC/ESMRC, Margarita served as the senior financial leader within a wide range of industries including energy, manufacturing, and technology for start-ups. She specializes in building and formalizing GAAP compliant financial and lean operational departments with a focus on efficacy, efficiency, and scalability. Margarita holds an M.S. in Accounting with a secondary M.S. in Finance from the University of Colorado.

Anne Gage serves as ESMC’s Senior Director of Partnerships and is responsible for fundraising, member engagement and retention, Board relations, and the Inclusion and Racial Justice program.

Anne is a dedicated conservation nonprofit leader and trained spatial ecologist. She enjoys using science to drive strategy and prioritization, and her love of agriculture is rooted in her upbringing in Kansas. Prior to joining ESMC, she served as Conservation Director for World Wildlife Fund’s Northern Great Plains Program and Chief of Staff for Science at NatureServe. She also worked for the National Park Service and the Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria in Argentina. Anne has a BS and MS in Ecology and a BA in Spanish Literature.

Isidora Jimenez, ESMC/ESMRC Finance Director, holds a Master of Business Administration from Mills College, with a program emphasis in Finance. She also completed her undergraduate work at Mills, with majors in Mathematics and International Relations and a minor in French.

Throughout her career, Isidora has performed financial analysis and auditing at the highest levels, as well as asset and debt management. Her recent roles include working for Fortune 500 companies, where she used her French and Spanish language skills managing their international banking relationships.

Isidora currently lives in Reno, Nevada, where she takes advantage of Lake Tahoe’s proximity to enjoy the outdoors with her family and Labrador retrievers.

As ESMC’s Communications Director, Thayer Tomlinson manages external organizational communications including the ESMC monthly newsletter, website, press releases, and social media accounts. She has worked in organizational communications for the last 15 years, serving as the Communications Director for the International Biochar Initiative and as the Program Manager for the Coalition on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases. She also currently supports the EPA’s ENERGY STAR program providing research and technical support to small businesses and congregations working to increase facility energy efficiency.

She holds a Masters in International Environmental Policy from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey and was a Peace Corps volunteer in Mongolia. She lives in rural Vermont where she enjoys gardening, hiking, reading and watercolor painting.

Tapasya Babu is ESMRC’s soil science and agronomy expert for Eco-Harvest, leading pilot programs and Technical Working Groups in Soil, Livestock, Water, and Biodiversity. She specializes in soil sampling strategies, data analysis, and leveraging AI for predictive insights, ensuring ESMC’s programs achieve sustainability goals.

Previously, Tapasya was the Technical Services Lead at Compass Minerals, where she developed innovative fertilizers, led field trials, and built partnerships across South Asia. As a Postdoctoral Researcher at Cornell University, she advanced soil biomolecule analysis using untargeted metabolomics.

With a Ph.D. in Agroecology from Louisiana State University, Tapasya is passionate about creating sustainable crop solutions that benefit farmers and the environment. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking and discovering new podcasts.

As ESMC/ESMRC’s Manager, Member Engagement & Equity, Doug is responsible for leading initiatives that support ESMC’s commitment to inclusion and racial justice (IRJ) across all operational and organizational functions as well as engaging with all our current members and reaching out to potential new members. As part of his role, Doug leads ESMC’s IRJ Working Group – driving increased program enrollment by under-served & under-represented agricultural communities via strategic outreach and engagement efforts. 

Doug is a program management professional and sustainability enthusiast, with 15 years of experience spanning marketing, ag-tech, and social media. In 2017, he founded New Brooklyn Farms – an urban farm and green event space network based in the Washington DC-area. Doug is an active member of the Fair Farms Farmer Advisory Council, former Vice Chair of the MD Organic Food and Farming Association, and published speaker. He holds a B.A. in Communications from Temple University, and a Master Composter certificate from the NYC Compost Project at Brooklyn Botanical Garden.

As a strategic, data-driven product leader at ESMC, Shivani drives the end-to-end transformation of ESMC’s MMRV data pipeline—the critical infrastructure that underpins trust, scale, and success in ecosystem service markets. With 8+ years of experience across AgBiotech, Life Sciences, and Pharma, she specializes in turning scientific complexity into clear, usable, and regulatory-aligned digital products with a focus on building systems people can trust, streamlining the painful stuff, and making impact measurable.

When not thinking about data architecture or pipeline validation, Shivani can be found outdoors, hiking through North Carolina.

Lizzie Rose supports ESMC Eco-Harvest projects as a Project Manager, Research Lead. Lizzie has been interested in sustainable agriculture for many years and spent a summer working on an organic farm in Kansas while pursuing her undergraduate degree. She has also worked with several nonprofits to engage the public and promote environmental stewardship. Her past roles include working as a Naturalist at the Audubon Center of the North Woods teaching nature-based classes and serving as a Communications and Outreach Intern with Women for Conservation by publicizing work to protect endangered species in the Colombian rainforest.

Lizzie earned a Bachelor of Arts with majors in Environmental Studies and English from St. Olaf College, and also holds a Master of Natural Resources Stewardship with a specialization in Forest Sciences from Colorado State University. She currently lives in Washington, DC.

Sedley joins ESMC as the technical project manager for livestock where she will focus on grassland, rangeland, and livestock management system projects. Sedley first learned about regenerative agriculture working for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs. She has since been interested in learning about innovative farming practices aimed at reducing emissions. After working there, she wanted to learn about regenerative agriculture so conducted research comparing regenerative and conventional beef production systems through a life cycle analysis.

Sedley earned a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture majoring in animal science and a Master of Science in Animal Biosciences from the University of Guelph. During her master’s she spent 5 months living at the Trouw Nutrition research facility in the Netherlands conducting research and interning for the company.

Paige Meyer serves as ESMC’s Agricultural Data Manager where she supports ESMC’s Eco-Harvest MRV tool and develops programmatic and training materials. She is an environmental scientist and data analyst with a degree in Environmental Science with a focus in Watershed Science from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF). Prior to joining ESMC, Paige held the role of Member Coordinator for the Long Island Sound Study Citizens Advisory Committee and a water sampling position in collaboration with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Additionally, Paige has actively participated in ecological design and engineering projects and engaged in humanitarian work, including multiple natural disaster response and recovery initiatives. During her time at ESF, Paige demonstrated leadership in this scope of work as the President of the college’s Engineers Without Borders Chapter. Paige has a strong passion for nature-based solutions and native biodiversity that has led her to acquire thorough knowledge in botany and horticulture. Aside from her primary work as an Agricultural Data Manager for ESMC, she also brings graphic design skills stemming from a background in art.

Matthew Starr is a dedicated Trial and Research Manager with extensive experience leading field and laboratory trials on agronomically important crops. He specializes in the application of biostimulants and biologicals to enhance yield, improve production systems, and preserve the agroecosystem. His work supports the development of innovative crop and seed solutions that drive a positive triple bottom line for farmers.

A strong advocate for regenerative agriculture, Matthew integrates practices that restore soil health, increase biodiversity, and build long-term resilience on the farm. With a background in research, grant writing, trial design, and stakeholder engagement, he brings a holistic approach to agricultural innovation. His leadership—shaped by service in the United States Army and North Carolina Army National Guard—enables him to manage complex projects with agility and purpose. He is passionate about advancing sustainable farming practices that increase both profitability and environmental resilience.