CTrees is pleased to welcome Chris Woodall, Ph.D., as director of U.S. forest science and policy, effective immediately. A distinguished forest scientist and civil servant, Woodall previously served in senior science and policy roles in the U.S. Forest Service, where he led forest sector greenhouse gas reporting to the UNFCCC and worked closely with the forest product industry on carbon market and adaptation initiatives.

In his new role, Woodall will lead CTrees’ work on U.S. forest carbon accounting, overseeing development and application of CTrees’ cutting-edge technology to quantify forest biomass carbon and assess the impacts of land use activities, forest management, and wildfire. He will engage with CTrees’ partners in government agencies, civil society, and the private sector to ensure that stakeholders working on natural climate solutions have access to scientific data for estimating land carbon stocks, emissions, and removals at impactful spatial and temporal scales.

“Chris is a respected national leader in forest science and policy who has been instrumental in advancing U.S. efforts to quantify carbon in forests,” said Sassan Saatchi, CTrees’ CEO, co-founder, and chief scientist. “Throughout his career he has championed innovative ecological science and data solutions that serve government and private sector needs. In this new role, Chris will be working alongside CTrees scientists and data engineers to develop best-in-class data solutions that accelerate natural climate solutions in the U.S.”

Woodall brings over 24 years of scientific leadership to CTrees, following a globally impactful career with the Forest Service’s research and development branch. He most recently served in Washington, D.C., as a national program leader for forest carbon quantification sciences. In the national role, Woodall coordinated U.S. efforts on critical forest science initiatives, including evaluating U.S. implementation of the European Union Deforestation Regulation, President Biden’s executive order on mature and old-growth forests, the national plan for greenhouse gas (GHG) measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification. He co-led development of USDA’s authoritative entity-scale greenhouse gas accounting methods for managed forests.

“I’m excited to be joining CTrees at an important moment for forest science and policy.” said Woodall. “Forests face immense risks from climate change, and actors from federal, state, and local government, and private landowners are looking for ways to reduce wildfire risk, improve forest sustainability, implement climate-positive economic actions, and restore ecosystems as a climate solution. Transparent and objective science and technology are key to addressing the challenge. I am honored to be working with CTrees’ leading efforts to develop systematic, scientific monitoring systems for forests.”

Earlier in his career, Woodall served nearly 20 years as a research forester and regional project leader with the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program including co-chairing President Obama’s interagency technical team on GHG accounting, in preparation for the Paris Climate Accords. His research has spanned dead wood and fuel inventories, large-scale forest density analysis, national carbon accounting, climate-adaptive forest management, tree regeneration quantification, and species range dynamics. He holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in silviculture from the University of Montana, and a B.S. in forest management from Clemson University.

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CTrees is a non-profit organization that tracks carbon in every tree and forest on the planet. Founded in 2022 and based in Pasadena, California, CTrees delivers scientific data on forest carbon to governments and organizations seeking to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and restore ecosystems globally.