Feeding the world, while simultaneously reducing greenhouse gas emissions and conserving nature, is one of the greatest challenges of this century. Dr. Maya Almaraz is a biogeochemist specializing in carbon and nitrogen cycling. The applied science implications of her research focus on developing carbon drawdown technology while finding ways to sustainably produce food for a growing global population. Her research incorporates basic scientific questions related to biogeochemical cycling with applied research aimed at solving environmental problems related to food systems and climate change. She employs emerging laboratory, field, and data science techniques with the goal of translating ecological knowledge into applications that have benefits for the economy and human well-being. She enjoys conducting innovative applied and policy relevant research and synthesizing that research for academic audiences and the public.
Prior to Yale University, Dr. Almaraz was a Associate Research Scholar in Sustainable Food Systems at Princeton University, a Natural Climate Solutions Carbon Scientist with The Nature Conservancy, and managed the Working Lands Innovation Center at UC Davis. Prior to her professional experience, she was a Postdoctoral Fellow with the World Wildlife Fund at UC Santa Barbara’s National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis and was a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in Biology at UC Davis. Dr. Almaraz received her PhD from Brown University in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and obtained a BS in Conservation and Resource Studies and a BA in Public Health from UC Berkeley.
Courses
ENV582b: Natural Climate Solutions in Agricultural Landscapes
Research Topics
Enhanced weathering
Natural climate solutions
Nitrogen pollution
Global food systems
Education
PhD, Brown University, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
BS, University of California, Berkeley, Conservation and Resource Studies
BA, University of California, Berkeley, Public Health