CSUS Hamm-Norris Seminar- Dr. Chloe Wardropper

October 25, 2024 12:00PM - 1:00PM

Natural Resources Building, 338


Join the Community Sustainability Department for the Hamm-Norris seminar series where scholars share the latest about their work in environmental and sustainability issues. Hamm-Norris seminars are public events and all are welcome to join! Individuals can attend the seminars either in person at the Natural Resources Building, room 338 or on Zoom.

For virtual attendance option via Zoom, login details below:
https://msu.zoom.us/j/97715232159
Meeting ID: 977 1523 2159
Passcode: CSUS

October 25th features Dr. Chloe Wardropper, Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Wardropper's talk is entitled "Agricultural soil carbon sequestration: Institutions and farmer inclusion in the “Wild West” of emerging voluntary markets."

Talk Summary: Carbon capture and storage technologies are part of the pathway towards slowing and ameliorating the effects of climate change. Private companies in the United States have begun working with farmers to create soil organic carbon sequestration credits through “climate smart” agricultural practices and sell them on voluntary carbon markets. Farmers have the potential to benefit from this new conservation funding opportunity while being part of the climate change solution, but there are numerous unanswered questions about the governance and impacts of carbon markets, including concerns that new markets will perpetuate existing inequalities in farmer access to conservation funding. In this talk, I will share results from interviews with carbon market project developers and farmers, and a farmer survey, seeking to assess (1) rationales for carbon market development, despite scientific and governance uncertainties, (2) farmers’ interest in and concerns about carbon market participation, and (3) perceptions of equity and access among farmers, particularly underrepresented and small farmers.

About Dr. Wardropper: Chloe Wardropper is Assistant Professor of Natural Resource Policy and Sustainable Landscapes in the Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences department at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is an interdisciplinary environmental social scientist conducting mixed-methods research on issues at the nexus of water and working lands affected by climate change, drawing on theories of individual and collective action, risk perception, and data use. Her group’s work has been funded by agencies including EPA, NASA, NIH, NSF, USDA, and USGS. Before arriving at UIUC, she was an assistant professor at the University of Idaho and a postdoctoral fellow with Purdue University and The Nature Conservancy’s reThink Soil Health initiative. Wardropper has a PhD in Environmental Studies from University of Wisconsin-Madison and a BA in the College of Social Studies from Wesleyan University.

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