Why Renoster?

Renoster is a carbon credit ratings agency focused on bringing deep transparency to the nature-based Voluntary Carbon Markets.

We see a problem: Many nature-based carbon projects today are very low quality. Major news outlets and research papers have shown that many carbon credits aren’t genuinely offsetting anything. This means that millions of tonnes of carbon has gone into the atmosphere and not really been dealt with. Money is not being properly used to genuinely restore and conserve natural ecosystems, and one of humanity’s best tools for fighting climate change is being hampered.

Our solution is simple: sunlight is the best disinfectant. We’re a deeply mission-driven company with a no-nonsense, tell-all, attitude towards carbon offsets. Our goal is to describe which projects are doing things well and which aren’t; and then make our work public so that the world can benefit by knowing which carbon credits to support. We want to clean up the carbon industry through deep transparency; because the only way that humanity is going to make a dent in climate change is if nature is given a chance, and if people can trust in their carbon offsets.

About This Role:

To achieve our ambitious goals, we’re looking for a mission-driven forest scientist to join Renoster’s team.

Much of this role is focused on analyzing nature-based carbon projects (usually forestry), and figuring out whether or not their claims are genuine. This is a complex investigatory process that involves deciphering documents, tracking down leads using a combination of satellite data and detective work, and ultimately coming to conclusions about carbon credit quality. To help with this, we use a set of remote sensing and machine learning algorithms that are designed to assess things such as a project’s carbon stock, baseline, leakage, fire risk, and more.

Other elements of this role involve forest mensuration work and the development of new forest analysis techniques to improve upon our offerings.

Who We’re Looking For:

The Renoster team is looking for passionate mission-driven individuals who share our goals of bringing greater transparency to the carbon markets. For this role we are looking for a team member with a strong technical background in either forest science (mensuration), forest remote sensing, and/or carbon protocols.

Responsibilities include:

• Developing investigatory reports on forest carbon offset projects (Primary).
• Conveying findings and complex scientific concepts to the public (Primary).
• Assisting in forest mensuration work, including developing and applying allometric equations and growth an yield modeling (Secondary).
• Assisting in developing new remote sensing and forest measurement models (Secondary).
• Assisting in developing standards and metrics by which to assess carbon quality (Secondary).

Desired Skills:

At least 2-3 years of experience working with carbon projects 

• Must possess a thorough understanding of how carbon offset projects operate

Technical forest science expertise

• Experience in forest mensuration/biometrics - This includes forest sampling techniques such as variable radius plot design and forest stratification, as well as growth and yield modeling. Ideally the candidate will have a familiarity with common modeling software such as the Forest Vegetation Simulator or other equivalents.
• Understanding of common silvicultural practices - Familiarity of when and where they might be applied.
• Experience with allometry - Knowledge of different allometric equation-sets. Ideally, some experience developing forest models (allometric or otherwise).
• The ability to interpret scientific articles related to forestry, and implement their approaches (such as allometric equations expressed in those papers).

Strong programming skills

• Ideally, experience with python using it’s data science and geospatial libraries such as GeoPandas, Scikit-learn, GDAL, Matplotlib, etc.

Experience with carbon protocols

• Knowledge of how different forest carbon protocols work. Knowledge of carbon registries and project types, and how forest protocols differ from one another.
• Carbon fundamentals such as additionality, leakage, permanence, etc.
• The ability to interpret carbon project documentation such as project description documents and monitoring reports.
• An understanding of where people can manipulate the numbers.

A background with statistics and data science

• Knowledge of basic statistical techniques and terminology, particularly in regard to the uncertainties and limitations of statistical models.
• Some modeling experience is preferable.

Experience with GIS software

• Primarily QGIS. This includes basic GIS operations and creating visually appealing maps.

A strong sense of justice

Nice to haves:

• A Master’s or PhD in forest science or related field.
• Some remote sensing experience. Experience working with Google Earth Engine is a plus.
• The position is remote, but a +/- 4 hour window from Pacific Standard Time is desirable.

Compensation & Details:

Job Type: Full-time

Salary: From $105,000.00 per year

Schedule: Monday-Friday

Work Location: Remote

Benefits:

• Health/Dental/Vision Insurance
• 401k
• Paid time off
• Work From Home stipend

Equal Opportunity Employer: Renoster Systems is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. We welcome and encourage qualified applicants from all backgrounds and identities to apply for this position.

Renoster Systems provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.