The masterclass has been created in collaboration between the American Embassy in Denmark and Farmbrella Group, and you can find a draft program further down on this page.

The focus will be on the economics of Carbon Markets for the farmer and the climate effects of cultivating the land climate-friendly using the latest technology on the market.

We will also discuss how politics can help manage or disrupt a thriving market for climate credits on both sides of the Atlantic. The entire masterclass took take place online in English on September 28th 2022 from 16:00 – 18:00 CEST.

16:00 Welcome and housekeeping by Jakob Tilma of Farmbrella & Patrycja Dahl, US Embassy Copenhagen

16:05 Martin Hvarregaard Thorsøe, Assistant Professor, Agricultural systems and Sustainability at Aarhus University

• Carbon Farming Schemes in the EU and the framework for Carbon Markets in the EU.

16:20 Professor Jordan Shockley, Associate Extension Professor, University of Kentucky, Dept. of Agricultural Economics 

• US Carbon Markets 101, economics for farmers, regulatory challenges
  

16:35 Presentation by Lars Dyrud, PhD, CEO of Earth Optics

16:40 Presentation by Josh Knauer, Co-Founder of ReSeed

16:45 Presentation by Jennifer Hanser, Director of Business Development at Agreena

16:50 Introduction to Doon Insights and Nick Sramek, Managing Director      

16:55 Panel discussion led by Nick Sramek of Doon Insight

• Science behind carbon capture and carbon markets in agriculture, soil level measurements
• Regulatory challenges in the US and EU and how governments are not creating favorable market and how to do better
• Economics of carbon sequestration for farmers
• Market dynamics in the US and the EU, innovation and entrepreneurship in this space

17:35 Q&A Session

18:00 Thank you and end of program

Assistant Professor, Agricultural systems and Sustainability at Aarhus University

Martin Hvarregaard Thorsøe works in the interface between science, technology and society emphasizing issues associated with agriculture.

Martin Hvarregaard Thorsøe focus is on drivers of change in farm-level agricultural practice in a context of complex policy requirements, market imperfections and globalization, and on the regulation of agricultural landscapes and implementation of sustainable and locality specific agricultural practices via stakeholder involvement, legislation and knowledge transfer.

Associate Extension Professor at the University of Kentucky

“Dr. Shockley is an Associate Extension Professor and Farm Management Specialist within the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Kentucky. His mission is to provide economic opportunities to Kentucky producers by conducting meaningful, applied research in Farm Management and Poultry Economics and effectively communicate those opportunities to positively influence the success of producers statewide. The past two years, Dr. Shockley’s focus has been carbon markets in the U.S. and the opportunities they provide to crop and livestock producers, as well as woodland owners. Understanding and communicating the economics and risks facing farmers surrounding carbon programs has led to state, national, and international invitations to speak on the topic. While Dr. Shockley has a majority Extension appointment, he also teaches an upper-level undergraduate class in Agricultural Financial Management.”

CEO of Earth Optics

Lars Dyrud has founded three companies. He enjoys advising engineers and scientists on innovation and entrepreneurism.

Lars received a BA in Physics from Augsburg College conducting research on ultra-low frequency geomagnetic pulsations. He was a Fulbright Scholar in space and plasma physics at the University of Oslo and received a Ph.D. from Boston University conducting doctoral research on plasma turbulence using theory and super-computer simulations and observations.

Prior to EarthOptics, Lars founded, developed and led OmniEarth to a successful exit through acquisition by EagleView Technologies where he most recently served as the Senior Vice President of Business Development. OmniEarth developed and provided machine-learning based imagery analytics tools to the insurance, public utility and land management industries. Lars has served as PI on R&D grants and contracts from NSF, DOE, NASA, AFOSR, Air Force SMC and Industry and is involved in basic and applied research in plasma physics, applications and techniques of tomography, software radio, GPS, inertial navigation and radar. He is the founder of the APL Center for Public/Private Partnerships and has led space-related missions and projects as head of the Earth and Space Science group at Draper Laboratory and previously as senior scientist and section lead at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in the areas of space physics, GPS tomography, Novel Earth observation missions and mobile applications.

Co-Founder of ReSeed

Josh is a serial tech entrepreneur with two successful exits and a ceaseless fascination about how we can use emerging technology and data to make decisions for a better future. He's currently a co-founder of ReSeed, General Partner at JumpScale, an Adjunct Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, an Advisor for Columbia Technology Ventures/NYSERDA and a Board member at WQED, which of course is the PBS station founded by Mr. Rogers.

Over the course of his career he has seen a wide range of experiences from the African Savanna to help indigenous tribes implement business strategies to protect their land and culture, to the boardrooms of Fortune 100 companies, universities, nonprofits and in between.

He was asked by President Barack Obama to join the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology to work on creating and implementing open data initiatives. Josh has served on a wide range of local, national and international non-profit boards, including the Social Venture Network and WQED Multimedia, he is a mentor to many startups and entrepreneurs and a frequent speaker at events like SXSW, AdWeek, the International Television Festival and many universities.

Director of Business Development at Agreena

After starting her career on Wall Street, Jennifer amassed two decades of experience in business development and management roles across industries, from sports and music to tech and cannabis. Most recently, Jennifer served as the first female executive at Saudi Entertainment Ventures, a company owned by the government’s sovereign wealth fund focused on developing a new entertainment industry in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Prior to her work in the Kingdom, Jennifer was the first employee of the international arm of Tilray, securing distribution in ten countries across four continents leading to the cannabis industry’s first initial public offering on a major exchange (NASDAQ: TLRY). At Sony Music, Jennifer negotiated with Spotify its first-ever license for a “freemium” service in the world’s largest music market. While in sports, at FIFA, she oversaw the development and launch of the digital properties for the CONCACAF region, and, at Major League Baseball, Jennifer was part of the team tasked with building MLB Advanced Media’s video streaming technology platform sold to Disney.

Now at the intersection of agriculture and the carbon markets, Jennifer continues her record of transforming industries for Agreena where she is responsible for developing the business globally through corporate development deals and regulatory affairs as well as leading new strategic initiatives.

Managing Director at Doon Insights

Nick Sramek leads workshop development, content creation, and outreach at Doon Insights. Nick has extensive experience assisting organizations in preparing for a world not yet visible. A skilled communicator of complex issues to diverse stakeholders, Nick has focused expertise in understanding and communicating global macroeconomic, technological, and geopolitical trends, as well as the importance of the economies of the Asia-Pacific region. He has worked extensively in Silicon Valley as a startup mentor and advisor.

Previously, Nick served as the Director of International Relations of Silicon Valley Forum, a Silicon Valley organization that focuses on startup mentorship, corporate digitization, and government innovation strategies.