Dr. Rachel Lamb currently serves as Senior Climate Advisor and the agency lead for natural climate solutions at the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE). In this work, she supports carbon assessments and accounting for natural and working lands and advances policy recommendations for carbon sequestration relative to the state's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act, Conservation Finance Act, and broader participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). She formerly served as a Maryland Sea Grant State Science Policy Fellow with MDE's Climate Change Program.

Since 2020, Rachel has led the Campus Forest Carbon project, helping the University of Maryland better incorporate forest carbon science into their Climate Action Plan, Greenhouse Gas Inventory, and innovative peer-verified offset program. She remains a faculty co-advisor for this project and a research collaborator on ongoing NASA CMS projects with Science Team Lead Dr. George Hurtt. In 2022, Rachel was appointed an Adjunct Assistant Professor within the Department of Geographical Sciences. 

Rachel earned her PhD in Geographical Sciences at the University of Maryland College Park, where her research centered on the applications of NASA Carbon Monitoring System forest carbon science to advance strategic climate mitigation planning with co-benefits for biodiversity and human livelihoods.

Areas of Interest

  • natural and working lands policy
  • climate change policy
  • conservation and development
  • forest carbon monitoring
  • strategic reforestation
  • coupled human-natural systems

Degrees

  • Degree Type
    Ph.D.
    Degree Details
    Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park
  • Degree Type
    M.S.
    Degree Details
    Sustainable Development & Conservation Biology, University of Maryland, College Park
  • Degree Type
    M.P.P.
    Degree Details
    Public Policy (Environmental Policy), University of Maryland, College Park
  • Degree Type
    B.A.
    Degree Details
    International Relations, Wheaton College (IL)
  • Degree Type
    B.S.
    Degree Details
    Environmental Studies, Wheaton College (IL)

Primary Investigator

Current Students

Former Students

Dr. Rachel Lamb
Email
rachlamb [at] umd.edu