Overview
Dr. Sarah Mack, founder and CEO of Tierra Resources, directs overall activities and works alongside state, municipal, and private partners to generate marketable carbon credits through application of rigorous scientific practices. Dr. Mack leads analysis, eco-asset monetisation, and implementation of projects.
Dr. Mack has built a world class management team harnessing more than 60 years of combined experience across every dimension of blue carbon offsets. Senior leadership of Tierra Resources include: Dr. John Day, high level adviser on wetland ecology and restoration; Dr. Robert Lane, lead field scientist who develops the monitoring design and directs all monitoring efforts; and Dr. Gary Shaffer, field biologist who leads all planting efforts.
Staff Biographies:
Sarah K. Mack, MSPH, PhD, CFM: Founder and CEO
Dr. Sarah K. Mack is a leader in the movement to monetize wetland carbon offsets. Sarah is experienced in the environmental and public health fields with specializations in wetland management, water resource management, environmental toxicology, eco-assets, and governmental relations. She has focused on innovative approaches to address the global challenges of climate mitigation, urbanization, and pollution through wetland management including extensive research on the carbon sequestration potential of Louisiana’s wetlands. Dr. Mack led the development and was the lead author of the American Carbon Registry Methodology, Restoration of Degraded Deltaic Wetlands of the Mississippi Delta, the very first methodology for creating and monetizing carbon offset credits from a broad range of wetland restoration activities.
Previously Dr. Mack was the Technical Administrator of the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (S&WB) where she also served as the Emergency Liaison between the S&WB and other agencies responsible for the initial response and later recovery of sewer, water, and drainage infrastructure during the 2005 hurricane season. She also initiated and served as Project Manager for the regional initiative between S&WB and St. Bernard Parish Government to implement the Central Wetland Unit Wetland Assimilation System, which once fully implemented will be the largest wetland assimilation system in the world. During this time Dr. Mack began to investigate carbon finance as a mechanism to fund wetland restoration and increase the resilience of the region.
Dr. Mack holds a Bachelors of Science in Chemistry from Fort Lewis College, a Masters of Science in Public Health focusing on Toxic and Hazardous Waste Management, and a Ph.D. in Global Sustainable Resource Management from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. Dr. Mack is also an ASFPM Certified Floodplain Manager.
Dr. Mack speaks nationally and internationally on the potential to produce commercially viable wetland offsets and the ability to use carbon finance to increase the resilience of coastal communities.
John W. Day, PhD: Advisor, Wetland Ecology and Restoration
Dr. John W. Day, Jr. is Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, School of the Coast & Environment at Louisiana State University, where he has taught since 1971. Dr. Day has studied Louisiana coastal wetlands for over 30 years, worked with local governments and regulatory agencies regarding wetland restoration, and authored more than 200 articles and books in the scientific literature. Dr. Day has extensive experience in the ecology and management of coastal ecosystems in Louisiana and worldwide with specialization in marsh and forested wetland ecology, wetland and coastal biogeochemistry, and river diversions. He is presently working on using wetlands as a means of removing nitrogen from the Mississippi River and for assimilation of municipal effluents.
Dr. Day received his PhD in marine sciences and environmental sciences from the University of North Carolina in 1971. He is a member of the National Technical Review Committee that oversees the Louisiana Coastal Area program, the restoration program for the Mississippi delta, and served as chair of the committee from 2003 until 2005. Currently, Dr. Day is a member of the Working Group on Science for Post-Katrina Future Planning for Greater New Orleans and Coastal Louisiana established by the Headquarters of the Corps of Engineers.
Robert R. Lane, PhD: Lead Field Scientist
Dr. Robert R. Lane is a wetland ecosystem scientist at Louisiana State University (LSU), School of the Coast & Environment. Dr. Lane has studied the impacts of river diversions on coastal water quality, wetland surface elevation, vegetative and aquatic primary productivity, and soil porewater chemistry, as well as the effectiveness of restoration techniques including sediment fences, hydrologic alterations, and municipal effluent application. Dr. Lane was a contributing author on the American Carbon Registry Methodology, Restoration of Degraded Deltaic Wetlands of the Mississippi Delta, and has published numerous papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals concerning water quality and management of coastal and inland wetland systems. Dr. Lane speaks nationally and internationally, and has been a guest presenter for several graduate courses at LSU and in Mexico.
Dr. Lane received his PhD in Oceanography & Coastal Science at LSU. Dr. Lane is currently co-Principal Investigator for a study on the development of nutrient criteria in the rivers and streams of Louisiana funded by LDEQ, as well as a study of the effects of Hurricane Katrina on coastal wetlands funded by LDNR, SeaGrant and CREST. He is involved with the Baton Rouge Planning Commission regarding river and wetland restoration within city limits. He is the Quality Control Officer for several LDEQ and EPA funded studies.