About Us
Kulshan Carbon Trust acts as a hub for NW Washington stakeholders and resources to come together and develop projects that regenerate local forests and fields.
Our Mission
To conserve and sequester carbon through collaborative natural climate solutions in Northwest Washington.
Our Vision
We envision people working together to drawdown carbon in ways that regenerate the land and build thriving communities.
Our Work
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Natural Climate Solutions use existing environmental processes, like photosynthesis, to address climate change.
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Our innovative process uses multidisciplinary workgroups to engage local stakeholders in regenerative land use practices that reduce carbon emissions and sequester carbon in the ground.
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Alongside Kulshan Carbon Trust and our partners, landowners can confidently manage their holdings and realize economic benefits by participating in carbon markets while sustainably producing food and increasing resiliency in our communities.
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We collaborate with community stakeholders to develop natural climate solution projects that are replicable, scalable, and based on proven methods.
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Our workgroups review available data and use scientific methodologies to recommend drawdown solutions that achieve both climate mitigation and adaptation (i.e., agroforestry, silvopasture, biochar, and regenerative agriculture).
Our Team
Jessa Clark (she/her)
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Jessa is our Program Manager and a co-founder of Kulshan Carbon Trust. She grew up in Bellingham, WA and graduated from Stanford University with a B.S. in Earth Systems and M.S. in Sustainability Science & Practice. Jessa believes that a collaborative and holistic approach to addressing climate change has the power to spark systemic change.
Gabe Travis (he/him)
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Gabe is our Program Coordinator. He plays a vital role in the day-to-day operations of the KCT, supporting our projects and internal operations. He graduated with a B.S. in Energy Science from Western Washington University with minors in Energy Policy and Sustainable Design. Gabe is interested in the forces that drive people to adopt more sustainable practices.
Jess Oman (she/her)
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Jess is our Natural Climate Solutions Graduate Fellow. She currently resides in Skagit County, WA and is supporting the KCT with the implementation of our Biochar Scale-Up Project. Jess holds a B.S. in Environmental Science, and a M.S. in Natural Resources. She has over eight years of research and working experience in the environmental sector, is a Certified Erosion and Sediment Control Lead, and an advocate for sustainability, conservation, regenerative agriculture practices and environmental justice.
Hannah Stone(she/her)
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Hannah is excited to join the KCT as a Science Communications Fellow, infusing her background in outdoor education, storytelling, and environmental studies. She is excited to support natural climate solutions projects that center environmental justice and ecological resilience! Welcome Hannah!
Sidra Miller (she/her)
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Sidra is our communications intern at Kulshan Carbon Trust. She’s currently working towards graduation at Western Washington University with a major in Environmental Studies and Food Security. She is excited about the power of community!
Sarah Malcomson (she/her)
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Sarah is an Environmental Policy pre-major at Western Washington University. She grew up in Skagit Valley and is excited to facilitate collaborative climate solutions in her home region. In her free time, she loves to be outside, hiking, or lying in the sun with a good book.
Ceaser Gutierrez (he/him)
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Ceaser supports KCT with various operational and project tasks on an as-needed basis. He holds a degree in Environmental Policy from Western Washington University. Ceaser first joined the Kulshan Carbon Trust (KCT) as an intern in 2021, where he supported our initial phase of research in natural climate solutions. Ceaser is deeply passionate about policy related to environmental justice and societal equity, and believes in incorporating stakeholder input, science, and technology into decision-making processes.
Jens Krosby (he/him)
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Jens is a volunteer who supports us with grant writing and identifying promising sources of funding for KCT’s projects and operations. Jens has a degree in Environmental Policy from Western Washington University.
AJ Meyer (she/they)
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AJ works as a project management consultant for a global technology company. They feel passionately about the intersectionality of environment and people, so they joined us at KCT to help elevate our story that keeps both science and community at heart.
Ryland Lubin (he/him)
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Ryland supports the KCT with natural climate solutions research that informs our projects and programs. He is a recent graduate of San Diego State University with a degree in Sustainability. In his free time, Ryland enjoys surfing and skiing.
Eli Bootsma (he/him)
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Eli is an Environmental Science major, member of the Aequitas Sustainability Fellows Cohort, and working to complete his certificate in Human Needs and Global Resources at Wheaton College, IL. He grew up in Lynden, WA and is excited to assist in scaling natural climate solutions in the Pacific Northwest. In his spare time he can be found spending time with friends and family, enjoying the outdoors, reading and discussing ideas in all disciplines, and playing sports.
Our Board
Howard Sharfstein (he/him)
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Howard co-founded and serves as President of the Kulshan Carbon Trust. His work for KCT focuses on strategy development, alliance building, and crafting trustworthy agreements.
Howard is a retired environmental attorney and former corporate sustainability leader. Playing in the fourth quarter of life, he is striving to apply more than four decades of policy, legal, and business experience as an environmental professional to help co-create regenerative natural climate solutions that build climate resilience and contribute to climate restoration.
Martin Mehalchin (he/him)
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Martin is our Board Treasurer. He has enjoyed a 25-year career in strategy and technology consulting working with some of the largest and most recognized brands in the world. Martin’s personal passions center around the environment and the outdoors. His increasing interest in solutions-oriented approaches to the climate crisis led him to his involvement with Kulshan Carbon Trust. Martin’s previous non-profit service includes 10 years on the Board of Sedro-Wooley based North Cascades Institute and several years as a strategic advisor to the Board of The Mountaineers in Seattle. Martin holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder and a Master’s degree from Cornell University. He lives in Seattle with his wife and family and enjoys skiing, hiking and cycling in his spare time.
Erika McPhee-Shaw (she/her)
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Erika joined our Board in 2022. She is a professor at Western Washington University and studies coastal dynamics and the physics of sub-surface waves, including their effect on mixing of ocean heat, nutrients, and carbon. She has been teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in climate change for 18 years. Erika has held numerous national scientific leadership roles during her career in California and Washington, and has also served on directory or advisory boards for nonprofits outside of academia. As a Stanford Woods Institute Leopold Leadership Fellow, Erika has training and practice in networking and communication strategies for spurring social change necessary to move on solving environmental problems, and is personally motivated to work with groups engaged in effective carbon solution approaches. In her free time she enjoys reading and knitting, as well as skiing, hiking, and mountain biking with her family.
Steve Hollenhorst (he/him)
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Steve is a co-founder of Kulshan Carbon Trust and serves as President on the Board. He is currently the Associate Vice President for Facilities at Western Washington University. He is also a professor and former dean of WWU’s College of the Environment.
In prior work, Steve was Associate Dean of the College of Natural Resources at the University of Idaho, founding director of UI’s award-winning Building Sustainable Communities Initiative, founding executive director of the UI McCall Outdoor Science School, co-editor of the international academic journals Society and Natural Resources and the International Journal of Wilderness, and co-founder of the West Virginia Land Trust.
Stefanie Cilinceon (she/her)
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Stefanie joined the KCT Board in 2022. Since then, she has been working with KCT on community engagement strategies as the Co-Chair of our Outreach Committee. She works full-time doing environmental education and outreach work with the City of Bellingham, where she helps promote habitat restoration and climate action through community events, behavior change campaigns, and educational materials. She also occasionally teaches classes through Western Washington University's Institute for Energy Studies.
Sarah Parker (she/her)
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Sarah began working with Kulshan Carbon Trust in 2021 as Project Manager and now serves as Board Secretary. She lives in Bellingham, Washington where she works at Peak Sustainability Group, a consulting firm focused on climate and sustainability solutions. In her work and volunteer efforts, Sarah strives to engage her community in envisioning and implementing equitable climate initiatives that serve the interests of many and help secure a resilient future for all. She received a B.A. in Biology from Lewis & Clark College and an M.A. in Environmental Studies from Western Washington University.
Andrew Shelton (he/him)
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Andrew Shelton joined Kulshan Carbon Trust as a member of the Board in 2022. His pursuits encompass roles as a climate activist, realtor, and skier, all while residing in Bellingham, WA.
Andrew's diverse experiences include street canvassing for a child poverty NGO in Seattle and Chicago, captaining a commercial salmon fishing boat in Alaska, and participating in crabbing in the Bering Sea. Recognizing the influence of climate change on oceanic conditions that impact salmon and crab stocks, he transitioned from maritime endeavors to establish a real estate business in Bellingham. His aim is to utilize the resources provided by this career to make significant strides in combating climate change.
Our Alliances
2023 Impact Report
To incentivize the uptake of NCS in our bioregion, KCT is exploring different regenerative financing methods. We have developed a methodology for awarding biochar eco-credits through the Regen Registry and are allocating carbon credits to stakeholders involved in biochar projects. We see Washington’s new Climate Commitment Act as an excellent opportunity to award credits to appropriate natural climate solutions under the state program that represent real carbon emissions reductions with meaningful co-benefits.
Our Carbon Trust is just the beginning.
The future of our concept is a network of nonprofit carbon trusts that tailor natural climate solutions to their regional environmental, social, and economic context.