Senior Scientist
The late Dr. Sandra Brown (1944-2017) was the Chief Scientist with Winrock’s Ecosystem Services Unit. She was a specialist in the role of land use and land cover change in the global carbon cycle and climate change, the impacts of climate change on terrestrial ecosystems, and the present and potential future role of terrestrial ecosystems for mitigation of climate change. She provided leadership and expertise to many national and international organizations in the field of land use/land cover change and its relation to climate change and mitigation. Dr. Brown successfully led more than 50 projects for a variety of U.S. governmental, multilateral and nonprofit donors, including the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the World Bank, The Nature Conservancy and Conservation International.
Her more than 30 years of project experience included conducting feasibility studies for climate change mitigation programs, projecting carbon benefits for afforestation/reforestation programs, training local NGOs to conduct environmental assessments and data analysis, and apprising policymakers of the socioeconomics of land-use change, deforestation and carbon trading. Dr. Brown served on many international and national panels and reports related to climate change, land use and forestry. She published more than 200 peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals and books. She served as a co-convening lead author for chapters in five UNFCCC IPCC Reports for which she received a diploma recognizing her contribution to the winning of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.
EXPERTISE
PUBLICATIONS
- Guidance on Carbon Stock Calculations Using Field Data CollectedAugust 12, 2018
- Standard Operating Procedures for Terrestrial Carbon Measurement (Vietnamese)
- Attribution of net carbon change by disturbance type across forest lands of the conterminous United StatesMarch 29, 2017
- Attribution of net carbon change by disturbance type across forest lands of the conterminous United StatesDecember 13, 2016
- Implementation of Guyana’s National Forest Monitoring System (NFMS) for REDD+June 3, 2015
- Analysis of Approaches for REDD+ VerificationNovember 26, 2014
- June 2014 InnovationsJune 1, 2014
- Forest Carbon Monitoring System: Emission Factors and their Uncertainties, Version 2
- Long Term Measurement and Monitoring Plan for Guyana’s REDD+ Forest Carbon Monitoring System: Version 2
- Impact of Logging on Carbon Stocks of Forests: Chihuahua Mexico Case StudyJanuary 24, 2014
- What Does Zero Deforestation Mean?November 8, 2013
- Benchmark Map of Forest Carbon Stocks in Tropical Regions Across Three ContinentsAugust 12, 2013
- Baseline Map of Carbon Emissions from Deforestation in Tropical Regions
- Baselines for Land-use Change in the Tropics: Application to Avoided Deforestation Projects
- Opportunities and Challenges for Offsetting Greenhouse Gas Emissions with Forests
- Cambodia REDD+ Roadmap: Development of a Reference Scenario and Design of a Monitoring System
- Comparison of Different Registries and Methodologies for Reporting Carbon Credits for Afforestation Projects in the United States
- Land Use and Forests, Carbon Monitoring and Global ChangeAugust 8, 2013
- Spatial Analysis for Forest Carbon Stratification and Sample Design for Guyana’s FCMS: Version 2June 1, 2013
RELATED NEWS & STORIES
- A Fighter for ForestsMarch 26, 2018
- Anatomy of a BreakthroughApril 10, 2017
- Winrock Mourns the Passing of Legendary Senior Scientist Dr. Sandra BrownFebruary 23, 2017
- Winrock Scientists Pinpoint Source of Carbon Emissions Greater than Global AviationFebruary 21, 2017
- ‘Can You Imagine This World Without Forests?’February 3, 2017
- A Gold Miner in the ForestJune 30, 2016
- A Forest of PossibilitiesMarch 6, 2016
- Sandra Brown Presented with USDA Forest Service Tropical Forest Conservation AwardJune 12, 2014
- Gauging the impact of tropical forest logging: Winrock develops new method for quantifying carbon emissionsApril 2, 2014
- Ken Andrasko Named Director of Winrock’s Ecosystem ServicesMarch 5, 2014
- Has the Idea of ‘Zero Deforestation’ Lost Its Meaning?November 14, 2013
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