Climate Resolve, in partnership with the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, co-developed and delivered a six-day, modular training focused on carbon accounting, nature-based solutions, and carbon markets.
This collaborative effort brought together Tribal leadership, nonprofit expertise, and industry practitioners. Together, we developed a program rooted in technical rigor, cultural relevance, and practical application.
Combining classroom instruction, field-based learning, and hands-on activities, the course gave participants the knowledge and tools to turn climate goals into community-centered GHG mitigation projects and built capacity to train others in carbon literacy and climate solutions.
The training was offered at no cost to participants, thanks to support from a grant under the California Conservation Corps' Nature-Based Solutions Program.
SPEAKERS & COURSES
Tribal Land Management Demonstration
Miguel Luna
Chief Administrative Officer
Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians
Miguel Luna serves as the Chief Administrative Officer of the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, supporting the tribe’s efforts to strengthen climate resiliency, ecological restoration, and conservation. His work is deeply rooted in collaboration internally within all tribal departments and externally with community partners to develop innovative strategies that address climate challenges while honoring traditional ecological knowledge
Outdoor Kickoff Activity: Tracing Your Carbon Footprint
Sai Amulya Nyathikala
Specialist, Energy & Water Programs
Climate Resolve
Sai Amulya Nyathikala is a Specialist in Energy & Water Programs at Climate Resolve, where she advances projects to integrate climate equity with technical energy and water solutions. Her work focuses on the design and implementation of decarbonization, building retrofit, and nature-based carbon offset projects across Los Angeles County, while ensuring compliance with carbon registries such as the Climate Action Reserve.
She holds a doctoral degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from NIT Bhopal, India, completed in collaboration with Durham University (UK), and brings interdisciplinary expertise at the intersection of climate science, infrastructure planning, carbon markets, and social justice.
Fundamentals of Climate Change
Jonathan Parfrey
Executive Director
Climate Resolve
Before founding Climate Resolve, Jonathan Parfrey served as a commissioner at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (2008-2013). Jonathan is a member of the LA28 Olympics and Paralympic Games Sustainability Working Group. He is a founder and board member of CicLAvia, the popular street event, as well as a founder of the statewide Alliance of Regional Collaboratives for Climate Adaptation. He served as director of the GREEN LA Coalition (2007-2011) and as the Los Angeles director of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization Physicians for Social Responsibility (1994 to 2007). Prior to that, Jonathan founded and directed the Orange County Catholic Worker (1987-1993). He was appointed to Governor Schwarzenegger’s Environmental Policy Team in 2003.
California GHG Policy and Programs
Enrique Huerta
Senior Director, Policy and Legislation
Climate Resolve
Enrique Huerta is Climate Resolve’s Senior Director of Policy and Legislation and a leading policy expert in climate resilience and extreme heat advocacy. His work is defined by a unique ability to secure legislative wins even when traditional bill paths stall. Enrique has played a pivotal role in delivering historic worker protections, including the 2024 Indoor Worker Heat Standard. From codifying the state’s Extreme Heat Action Plan to securing $450 million in dedicated funding through Proposition 4, Enrique continues to redefine how California protects its most vulnerable populations from the rising threat of extreme heat.
Carbon Science and Nature-Based Solutions
Kendall DeLyser Roney
Senior Director, Forest Climate Science
American Forests
Kendall DeLyser Roney manages American Forests’ forest climate science projects and serves as the organization’s technical expert on forests, carbon and climate change. She is currently leading research partnerships focused on climate-smart forestry and wood utilization, forest soil carbon, and the role of forests as natural climate solutions. Kendall supports state natural resource agency partners in applying climate-smart forestry research to inform policy development and forest management planning. Before joining American Forests, she worked on carbon offset project research and policy recommendations for climate-smart land use and also researched successful forest restoration techniques in Costa Rica. Kendall holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental policy from Colorado College, as well as master’s degrees in environmental management and forestry from Duke University.
Intro to Greenhouse Gas Accounting
How to Apply GHG Accounting to Forests
Kathryn Bickel Goldman
Senior Fellow and Board Secretary
Greenhouse Gas Management Institute
Kathryn has been a climate change professional for 25 years working in non-profit leadership, federal and local government, and as an independent consultant. Her expertise includes climate mitigation planning, greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory development, carbon offsets policy and protocol development, and teaching and capacity building. Her accomplishments include leading development of the City of L.A.’s climate action and sustainability plan in 2019, designing original methodologies for assessing policy impacts on GHG emissions under the Initiative for Climate Action Transparency (ICAT), developing carbon offset protocols for the Climate Action Reserve, and preparing on-line training courses for GHG accounting. Kathryn is a contributor to the IPCC’s 2007 Nobel Prize for her work as a lead author on IPCC Guidelines for National Inventories. Kathryn is currently a Senior Fellow and Board Secretary for the Greenhouse Gas Management Institute.
Evaluation of Potential Carbon Offset Project Site
Lisa Gonzalez-Kramer
Vice President
Forest Carbon Service
Lisa Gonzales-Kramer, Registered Professional Forester (RPF), Vice President, Forest Carbon Programs at Mast, is a driving force in restoring wildfire-impacted forests across the US West. She oversees Mastʼs carbon development team, which is responsible for delivering biomass burial and reforestation carbon projects. Her expertise is rooted in her leadership of the groundbreaking Cuyamaca Reforestation Project. As Project Manager for this California State Parks initiative, Lisa spearheaded the restoration of vital mixed conifer forest in three critical watersheds in San Diego County. Beyond carbon, Lisa was instrumental in establishing the first Native American Conservation Corps for California State Parks, a collaborative initiative that empowers Native Californians to engage in the stewardship of their ancestral lands.
Carbon Markets and Opportunities for Tribal Nations
Beatriz Zavariz
GHG Management and Sustainability Expert
Beatriz Zavariz is a greenhouse management professional with 15 years of experience across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. After earning her Master of Environmental Management from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, she joined the Climate Action Reserve, one of the four major carbon offset registries in the voluntary carbon market. There, she led protocol development and updates, conducted project standard reviews, and engaged with carbon market stakeholders. She later worked at Climate Impact Partners, a carbon offset credits intermediary, where she evaluated the quality of projects for corporate buyers. Most recently, Beatriz completed a three-year tenure at Manulife Investment Management, the world’s largest Timber Investment Management Organization, where she designed and implemented Improved Forest Management carbon offset projects, tracked market developments, and guided quality decision-making.
Guest Lecture with Yurok Tribe
Kevin McKernan
Marine Director and Interim Forest Carbon Offset Director
Yurok Tribe
Kevin McKernan has over 25 years of broad natural resources management and policy experience. He has served as the Executive Director of two California state agencies, the Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy and San Diego River Conservancy, focusing on landscape scale habitat protection through land acquisition and management. McKernan also served as the Executive Director for the San Dieguito River Park Joint Powers Authority, overseeing complex land mitigation projects and large-scale habitat preserve acquisition and management. Currently he serves as the Marine Director and Interim Forest Carbon Offset Director at the Yurok Tribe – the largest Tribe in California on the far northwest coast of the state. There he manages four forest carbon offset projects totaling 45,000 acres – land acquired from previous industrial timber land owners within the Tribe’s ancestral territory.
Guest Lecture with Matt Carpenter
Matt Carpenter
Senior Vice President, Environmental Resources
FivePoint
Matt Carpenter is a proud native son of Los Angeles- a third generation Angeleno. Carpenter currently serves as Senior Vice President of Environmental Resources at FivePoint, where he manages environmental planning, permitting and regulatory affairs. Since 2005, Carpenter has played an instrumental role in the evolution of FivePoint’s Valencia community, which is coming to life as one of the most sustainable and environmentally-innovative communities of its kind in the nation. Widely recognized as a problem-solver of environmental challenges, Carpenter has spent over 30 years planning and implementing significant environmental sustainability and natural resource conservation programs in Los Angeles County and throughout California.
PROGRAM
