ESMC / ESMRC Team

ESMC’s ecosystem services market program for agriculture, Eco-Harvest, recognizes and rewards farmers and ranchers for their environmental services to society. The Ecosystem Services Market Research Consortium (ESMRC) is ESMC’s research arm. The ESMC/ESMRC team supports all efforts of the ESMC and the ESMRC in the development of this market program.

Debbie Reed was named Executive Director of the ESMC in May of 2019 upon the establishment of the Consortium and subsequently assumed the same role for the ESMRC upon the creation of the Research Consortium in November of 2019. Debbie’s role in leading ESMC/ESMRC builds on decades of experience in carbon markets, agriculture climate change mitigation and sustainability efforts in the US and internationally.

Debbie previously led the Coalition on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (C-AGG), a national multi-stakeholder coalition supporting the development of tools, technologies, knowledge and programs to improve quantification of GHG from agriculture and GHG mitigation opportunities for the sector. She was also the founding Executive Director of the International Biochar Initiative. Debbie served in the Clinton Administration at the White House Council on Environmental Quality as the Director of Legislative Affairs and Agricultural Policy and in the U.S. Senate as a Senior Staff on natural resource and agricultural issues for U.S. Senator Robert Kerrey of Nebraska. She held numerous leadership positions at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She has graduate and undergraduate degrees in human nutrition/dietetics, chemistry, and communications/journalism.

Debbie is a member of ESMC’s Leadership Team.

As the organization’s Director of Product and Business Development, Jack advances ESMC’s business plan, product strategy, membership growth, and other essential program elements. In this role, Jack serves as lead for the Eco-Harvest market program and marketplace. Jack’s work enables implementation of product-driven growth strategies to help scale Eco-Harvest. He also provides cross-functional and market-driven leadership and oversight to further ESMC’s business objectives.

Jack has business development experience at every phase of the agricultural value chain. He has worked at multiple firms in the agricultural sector, in close collaboration with farmers and corporate executives alike at a high-tech agricultural hardware company in Silicon Valley and at a California wine company. Jack has also worked as a product strategist for a nonprofit, multi-stakeholder climate advocacy group in Miami. Most recently, he co-founded a food and culture app that received backing from Facebook.

Jack earned a B.A. in Social Studies as a philosophy major at Bard College. He also studied at Stanford University, completing the Intensive Human Rights Program. In his spare time, Jack enjoys hiking, reading, and playing soccer.

Jack is a member of ESMC’s Leadership Team.

As ESMC/ESMRC Director of Partnerships & Project Development, Alana leads ESMC’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. 

Alana is a member of ESMC’s Leadership Team.

As ESMC/ESMRC Director of Technology and Innovation, Austin Arrington is responsible for the development, oversight, and coordination of all technical aspects of building, launching, and supporting ESMC’s Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) platform. Austin is a software developer, scientist, and entrepreneur working on technologies to connect humans and nature. Prior to joining ESMC, he was a machine learning engineer with Teralytic, where he helped develop and bring to market technologies for monitoring and decision-making around soil health. In 2016, he founded the environmental consultancy PLANT Group, installing urban farms and green roofs across the Northeast, while helping growers cut water use by 25% using Internet of Things (IoT) smart irrigation systems.

Austin is a published researcher and holds an M.S. in Environmental Science from SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry, an M.A. in Bioethics from NYU, and a B.A. in English from Penn State University. His research explores the intersection of ecology, technology, and ethics.

Isidora Jimenez LaCasse, 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.

Jake works with ESMC’s Eco-Harvest projects and soil sampling. While he grew up on his family’s dairy farm in Iowa, he also brings global experience from his 5 years of procurement work in the spice industry for Kalsec and Frontier Co-op. Jake gained expertise within the organic sector, where he has coordinated projects with farmers across the globe, imported commodities through supply chains, and driven commercial product launches. Prior to his work in spices, he also did a brief internship for a branch office of the United Nations in Zaragoza, Spain focused on water sustainability.

Jake holds a Masters in Management from IE Business School Madrid and a BBA in Economics from the University of Iowa. He and his wife live in Los Angeles. Jake enjoys playing ping pong and Settlers of Catan, watching college sports, learning languages, and exploring new places.

Ashley is ESMRC’s Soil Scientist and is passionate about preserving environmental quality. He has over 20 years of experience working in academia, government, non-profit, and corporate positions; he is interested in removing obstacles that stand in the way of conservation practices adoption. The primary focus of his work has been to investigate how changes in cropping system management like diverse crop rotation, minimum tillage, nutrient/manure management, and cover crops affect physical, chemical, and biological soil properties like bulk density, aggregate stability, soil carbon, nutrient dynamics, microbial activity, and water holding capacity. He works to develop pathways toward improved resource use efficiency, farm economics, and farm policy utilizing market-based solutions. Most recently, he has been developing lab-based and on-the-go proximal soil sensing technology in the private sector. He holds a Ph.D. in soil science from Washington State University, an M.S. in soil science from Auburn University, and a B.S. in environmental, soil, and water science from the University of Arkansas.

As ESMC’s Protocols and Standards Manager, Nicole leads the development, maintenance, and refinement of Scope 3 GHG market-based intervention accounting protocols. In this role, Nicole builds on two decades of experience in sustainable agriculture production, standards, and program design. She was a 2022 Climate Cohort fellow with the Aspen Tech Policy Hub, focused on market incentives and financing to accelerate the transition to regenerative and climate smart agriculture. As Senior Organic Inspector with the Washington State Department of Agriculture for ten years, Nicole worked directly with farm producers and consumer packaged goods companies to uphold and interpret the USDA National Organic Program standards.

Nicole began her farming career in 2003 at the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems at UC Santa Cruz. Before leading certification and policy efforts, she raised crops and small livestock for 10 years in the Midwest and Washington State. While farming, Nicole also trained youth and adults as Founding Director at Prairie Crossing Learning Farm and as an Extension Educator at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Washington State University. She currently studies emerging ecosystem services accounting and soil health more broadly while earning an MS in Agriculture at Washington State University.

As ESMC/ESMRC’s Manager of Diversity & Inclusion, Doug is responsible for leading initiatives that support ESMC’s commitment to inclusion and racial justice (IRJ) across all operational and organizational functions. In 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.

Lizzie Rose supports ESMC Eco-Harvest projects and organizational communications. 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.

As a project manager, Laura builds relationships with ESMC’s partners to develop and execute market and pilot projects to help corporate buyers confidently meet their emission reduction goals and scale regenerative agriculture. Laura comes with experience in the many stages of the food and beverage supply chain. Most recently she created and led the Corporate Social Responsibility program for Southeastern Grocers; collaborating with stakeholders to define the company’s top priorities, spanning emission reduction, sustainable packaging, waste and sourcing practices. She garnered support for corporate goals and mobilized executive level leadership to action. Additionally, Laura brings experience from her time at the private equity firm, Closed Loop Partners, focused on creating and scaling the circular economy. She also served as the conduit between CPGs and retailers to distribute food and beverage products throughout the United States.

Laura earned her Master’s of Sustainability Management from Columbia University and B.S. in Psychology from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She loves to get outside in the mountains, at the beach or the local park.

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.

With 10 years of experience in professional office executive assistant positions and a record of strong performance in high-pressure, high-volume environments, Damaris skillfully manages administrative duties and client relations for her colleagues. As an Executive Assistant at ESMC, she ensures the smooth operation of ESMC with her robust knowledge of office management and efficient handling of client inquiries, consultations, and timely access to executives as required.

Prior to working for ESMC, Damaris contributed her skills to transcendent companies in finance, medical, fashion and non-profits. She’s an NYC native who studies computer science at Columbia University and indulges in bookshops, restaurants, and museums.