During my summer at Fair Carbon, I worked on several projects targeted at increasing transparency, accountability, and accessibility in the \"blue carbon credit\" sector. Fair Carbon is a Geneva-based NGO focused on establishing norms in the coastal (mangroves, wetlands, eelgrass) voluntary carbon credit market. Blue carbon offsets are a rapidly growing part of the larger carbon offset market, however these offsets are poorly regulated both for their permanence (ability to sequester CO2 long term) and the impact they have on local communities. I worked on enabling condition dossiers, and this research is available on Fair Carbon's global enabling conditions map. This research delved into the politics, environment, economy, and international relations of a certain country. These documents are useful for NGOs, foreign governments, local communities, essentially anyone interested in developing a blue carbon project in said country since this research lays out everything from land titling processes to participation in international environmental agreements (REDD+, Ramsay convention). I also completed an open access article on the state of the science regarding mangroves as carbon reservoirs, and the current pathways in place for their equitable development via conservation or restoration. Finally, I worked on building out a global biodiversity map with all of the species of fauna currently found in mangroves globally. The aim of this project is to catalog their keystone status as protectors of biodiversity.

Studying climate science at the Climate School, with a focus on oceanography was the perfect preparation for this role. Courses such as Biological Oceanography, Coastal Systems monitoring, Ridge to Reef (Colombia), and Physical Oceanography helped me immeasurably. Although my work was more policy-oriented, the science behind blue carbon was important to know. It allowed me to see when a region or project had potential, and conversely to identify manipulation and misrepresentation. I was able to leverage my knowledge of ocean and coastal systems, as well as GHG gas transfer between the atmosphere and ocean to have informed input during meetings. On the policy side, I had a strong background in policy before my current degree and the scientific understanding helped me write effective policy articles informed by the latest science. The Ridge to Reef course I completed in the second semester involved a trip to Colombia to work on coastal resiliency proposals in Cartagena; I learned forms of stakeholder engagement and saw the potential blue carbon holds for vulnerable coastal communities. This course prepared me by exposing me to the international development component of blue carbon. In its entirety, my master's in Climate and Society prepared me to work at the nexus of climate and society, which is exactly what I did at Fair Carbon.

The challenges I faced were related to format. Working on enabling conditions, public access articles, and a global mangrove biodiversity map as well as editing other documents for publication by Fair Carbon required an understanding of how to present the information. Little things were the most challenging: knowing where to put hyperlinks, finding applicable laws and policies in other countries'legislative (and linguistic) context, and writing in a neutral tone. The latter was especially hard during country profiles since certain policies encouraged action demonstrably harmful to the communities who should see the benefits from blue carbon. Regarding the biodiversity dataset, I had trouble figuring out how to best mesh datasets so they could more easily be fed into GIS. The work I did was well supervised and I had constant feedback. All of the issues I identified above were remedied as I completed more work and built on suggestions. My supervisor had been in my position previously and completed similar work, so she was very supportive and insightful when I came up against a brick wall.

Working at Fair Carbon was an exercise in passion and a correct application of my skills attained during my degree at Columbia. Since the goal of bringing order to the voluntary carbon market is so important, I worked on making my deliverables as actionable as possible. During this process I interacted with stakeholders, experts, and scientific literature. This all taught me about the on the ground reality of the sector in which I work. I learned about the international treaties, norms, and organizations informing blue carbon development projects. Since this is a new and rapidly evolving field, learning about all facets of the sector from finance to policy to science allows one to move between roles and take interesting opportunities as they arise. This internship let me see the financing, policy, and science side of blue carbon all at once. I would like to go forward in a position where field visits and on the ground monitoring is a component. I know that developing relationships with stakeholders and evaluating the situation of each site in its entirety is necessary for a high integrity blue carbon project, and for my own development. Because Fair Carbon is a reference point for many in the industry, I have had the opportunity to network and gain a better understanding of where I want to work. I am confident I have the basis to continue in the blue carbon space.