Speaker Bio

Puja Batra is an ecologist who uses integrated approaches to solve problems of sustainable development, bringing together science, markets, policy, and innovation to stem the loss of healthy ecosystems. She has worked in several countries across three continents with a work portfolio that cuts across some of the planet s most urgent and interrelated issues: biodiversity loss, natural resource degradation, local economies, food security, and climate change. She is currently working in San Diego County on mechanisms for scaling up climate smart agriculture.

Abstract

Restoration of healthy, carbon-rich agricultural soils is receiving global attention as a major climate solution that can draw down greenhouse gases while also building food security and other aspects of climate resilience. In San Diego County, a multi-stakeholder effort has recently begun an effort to scale up carbon farming. This talk will examine the potential that carbon farming in San Diego County has to link together the rural and urban parts of the county, address multiple water-related resilience challenges, potential pathways to scale up, and also the multi-faceted challenges of implementation.