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IBI Staff
Quotes on IBI and Biochar
John Seed, founder and director of the Rainforest Information Centre and co-creator of the Council of All Beings:
“For 30 years I have worked to protect rainforests first from logging and now, from climate change. During that time I have always looked to indigenous wisdom for guidance. Biochar, as the modern version of the ancient Amazonian Terra preta, has great potential for restoring the biodiversity of soil life, increasing food production, reducing the pressure to clear forests for agriculture and, most importantly, sequestering carbon from the atmosphere for millennia. I commend the IBI for their work to place biochar on the global agenda and to accelerate its adoption. There is no time to waste if we are going to save forests from climate change and development.”
Arturo Segura, owner of Sol Colibri, a sustainable, shade grown, organic coffee farm in the Santos region of Costa Rica. Segura is also a direct trade sales rep for La Alianza, an alliance of organic producers of coffee, cocoa, and bananas.
"When I transitioned my small coffee farm to organic production, I added tons of biochar with bokashi ferment and compost. Biochar is amazing and I can see the difference it makes in my soil over time. It is an integral part of the wholeness that has made my organic coffee farm sustainable and successful."
Camilo Urbina, Project Manager, ASITEC, Ltd., Arica, Chile:
“El apoyo de IBI ha sido fundamental para que los resultados de nuestro proyecto sean comparables a nivel internacional y puedan servir para el avance de una mejor comprensión del rol que puede tener el Biochar en los climas áridos”
Josiah Shelton Hunt, member, Biochar Hawaii and owner, Landscape Ecology:
“I trust the International Biochar Initiative. I trust the IBI for up to date information, for sound advice, as a resource for networking with other biochar folks, and most of all as a wise and progressive force in a global biochar realization. My recent successes with biochar are greatly due to the amazing crew of the International Biochar Initiative.”
Phil Covell, business analyst for Forest Trends Katoomba Group:
“IBI brings together the world’s leaders in biochar research, advocacy, and technology for project implementation. IBI’s support for our feasibility and pilot project in Costa Rica has been extraordinarily helpful.”
Erik van Lennep, CEO and Creative Director, TEPUI; worked to launch the original rainforest action movement in North America:
“Driven by a passionate, experienced and informed community, the IBI is doing essential work to pull together the various sectors of research, advocacy, policy and education needed to bring biochar forward as a global response to climate change and soils recovery. I agree with their ethical stance: the IBI will only support biochar projects that do not result in land use change, either direct or indirect, and which do not impinge on land rights or otherwise negatively impact local Indigenous communities.”
IBI Staff
Starting with a few very part time employees in 2007, IBI now has a staff of five people as well as IBI consultants. For more information on a particular IBI employee (and to contact them), click on their name.
- Debbie Reed, Executive Director
- Kelpie Wilson, Project Development Director
- Loures Haro, Member Services Coordinator
- Shiva Scotti, Administrative Director
- Thayer Tomlinson, Communications Director
Debbie Reed, IBI Executive Director
Debbie Reed is a founding member of the International Biochar Initiative (IBI). She is also the President and Director of DRD Associates, providing strategic and policy support for national environmental, energy and agricultural groups on agricultural mitigation strategies for state, federal, and international global climate change policies. Debbie worked for President Bill Clinton at the White House Council on Environmental Quality as the Director of Legislative Affairs and Agricultural Policy for the White House Climate Change Task Force. Prior to that, she was a Senior Legislative Assistant for U.S. Senator J. Robert Kerrey (D-NE), where she handled environmental, natural resource/agriculture, and energy issues. In previous positions at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and at several public health oriented institutions, Debbie's work focused on federal agricultural, food safety, and human nutrition policy.
Kelpie Wilson, Project Development Director
Kelpie Wilson is a writer and a mechanical engineer. She has worked for IBI on communications and project development since September 2008. Prior to that she was the environmental editor and columnist for Truthout.org and a contributing editor for Yoga Plus magazine. She has published more than 100 articles in numerous online and print publications and worked as a technical writer for a solar power company. After graduating with honors from California State University, Chico in 1987 with a B.S. in mechanical engineering, she worked for a small R&D firm designing Stirling cycle engines. In the 1990s, she was the executive director of the Siskiyou Regional Education Project, a grassroots environmental group protecting wilderness and old growth forests in the Siskiyou Mountains of Oregon.
Lourdes Haro, Member Services Coordinator
Lourdes Haro received her Bachelor of Arts degree in International Area Studies and Rhetoric from the University of California at Berkeley. She has studied and conducted research for sustainable development projects in Ecuador and in her native Mexico. She has worked abroad as translator, travel writer, and instructor (in Spanish). She resides in the San Francisco Bay Area and for the last 15 years, has worked for a number of reputable non-profit organizations, including the last 8 years as a project manager for Kaiser Permanente.
Shiva Scotti, Administrative Director
Shiva Scotti holds a Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) from The Ohio State University, where she majored in Marketing Management with a minor in International Business. She has worked for several Fortune 100 companies including Kimberly-Clark Corporation on the Kleenex Brand and Abbott Laboratories, as well as in Munich, Germany for a couple years. Her experience spans an array of businesses and includes developing new products, determining brand positioning both in the US and abroad, and managing communication strategies internationally. She currently resides in Westerville, Ohio.
Thayer Tomlinson, Communications Director
In addition to working with IBI, Thayer Tomlinson is a Program Manager for the Energy and Security Group (ESG) with seven years international development experience conducting project development and implementation, research and analysis in climate change, renewable energy, agriculture, and environmental issues. With ESG she works with the Small Business and Congregations Network of the EPA ENERGY STAR Program and is a consultant to the TPW Energy Collaborative, a group of philanthropists dedicated to providing funding for sustainable energy projects in developing countries. Prior to joining ESG, she worked with the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) and was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mongolia. Thayer has a Master's Degree in International Environmental Policy from the Monterey Institute of International Studies.
Forms and Documents applicable to IBI staff and Consultants
