What was your background before coming to Carbon Credits Consulting?

I guess you could say that I have always been a nature boy. I remember growing up in a minor city in the countryside of São Paulo (Brazil) and going to a school surrounded by trees and grass, in contact with earth, water, and animals: I would volunteer to get my hands in the dirt to plant seedlings!

Therefore, studying Forest Engineer was almost a no-brainer for me. Note the “almost”, because I have been in love with maps for as long as I can remember. But I felt the call to action, to do something to try and help to “save the world”. And working with forests sounded just that to young me.

I eventually ended up merging my passion for maps and hiking in the woods with my work when I helped a graduate student from Ecuador in her research of Atlantic Rainforest carbon stocks. After that, I started my master’s degree aiming to map these same stocks via satellite!

So, when the opportunity in Carbon Credits Consulting Brazil’s technical team appeared, it seemed like a match made in heaven for me, as if my whole life had been preparing me for this job! Add to this mix the challenge of living in the heart of the Amazon Rainforest and you get the adventurous perfect bundle deal.

What is your role as Carbon Project Analyst at CCC? What are your main activities?

We have a very horizontal work structure here in Manaus, so much so that in the past year everybody has worked in almost all parts that involve the developing and managing of the carbon projects. But naturally, our skills and affinities guide us to more specific tasks.

As a forest engineer, lately I have been spending lots of time in the woods, measuring trees! This is called “forest inventory”, and it is a vital part prior to the start of any carbon project, considering that this is how we know how much carbon there actually is in the area we intend to protect. After the fieldwork, there is a lot of math to be done in the office, as well as maps, to my delight.

I also was in charge of keeping track of our hired biodiversity team, analyzing the results they have delivered, and the best way this data can be used to direct our project’s activities in the future.

What is your favorite part of working at CCC?

Getting to know, hike, and camp in the forests of Brazil and other countries and get paid to do it!

Seriously though, this is a major plus to me, together with the fact that I can say I’m working at the forefront of the fight against Climate Change. And working with people from different cultures, languages, and backgrounds only makes it richer!

What do you like to do in your free time?

Unsurprisingly, I like to hike and be in the wilderness. And being there takes me to another passion: looking at the stars in the night sky. The way nature and the universe have to belittle and humble us is just breathe taking, and put everything else in perspective.