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
Gabe Travis (he/him)
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Gabe is our Program Manager. 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 NCS Staff Scientist. She holds a B.S in Environmental Science, and a Master of Natural Resources. She has over 9 years of research and working experience in the environmental sector and is an advocate for climate resilient sustainable practices, conservation, regenerative agriculture 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.
Kenny Nichol (he/him)
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Kenny is an Energy Policy and Management major at Western Washington University. He's passionate toward the goal to transition to a more carbon-conscious future. Some of his favorite things to do are spending time with friends, partaking in different sports, and connecting with Washington's nature through hiking and camping.
Laura Raufi (she/her)
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.
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.
Chad Eller (he/him)
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Chad joined our Board in 2024. He is a chemist with significant experience in R&D, manufacturing, and process improvement. His interest in biochar began more than a decade ago, and since then he has read many hundreds of scientific journal articles about all aspects of biochar production, characterization, and applications. Chad’s interests also extend to agroforestry, renewable energy, and other sustainable technologies. In his free time he enjoys reading, playing strategy board games and spoiling his dogs.
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.
Ethan Smith (he/him)
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Ethan Smith joined Kulshan Carbon Trust as a member of the Board in 2024. Ethan is a designer, strategist, and advocate for regenerative systems, drawing on over 20 years of experience in sustainable innovation and brand development. He lives in Bellingham, WA, where he supports organizations in shaping holistic strategies that prioritize ecological and community resilience.
Ethan’s career has spanned roles in corporate design, consulting, and nonprofit initiatives, including work with the Biomimicry Institute. His journey has evolved from industrial design to guiding businesses in reimagining their purposes and adopting whole-systems approaches. With a focus on impactful climate solutions, Ethan aims to contribute his expertise to further Kulshan Carbon Trust’s mission of building sustainable, carbon-resilient communities.
Jessa Clark (she/her)
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Jessa is 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.
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.