Maria is a researcher specialising in commodity supply chains and their social and environmental impacts. She joined Trase in 2017. Maria works across Trase's impact and research teams mapping commodity supply chains and analysing data for key audiences in Latin America. Before joining Trase, she worked as a research assistant for a range of environmental NGOs and academic institutions and completed fieldwork in Brazil’s semi-arid zone. Maria holds degrees in Latin American studies from the University of Liverpool (BA, 2012) and Human Geography from the University of Cambridge (MPhil, 2014).

Maria Tyldesley

Stanislaw Czaplicki Cabezas

Business & finance

Deforestation and climate change threaten Bolivia’s soy sector

Tiago Reis

Mark Titley

Simon Croft

Soy expansion drives deforestation in Bolivia

High deforestation risk for beef from the Paraguayan Chaco

Soy deforestation risk in Paraguay continues despite decline

Global Canopy

Carina is a sustainability scientist who joined Trase in 2023. Her work aims to improve methods and data to account for carbon emissions from land use change and agricultural practices linked to commodity supply chains (such as soy, beef, palm oil and wood pulp) and to drive uptake of improved data and methods by companies, governments and financial institutions. Prior to joining Trase, she has been working for a consumer goods company contributing to the application and methodological development of Life Cycle Assessment. Carina holds a degree in Environmental Economics from the University of York (PhD, 2022) and Environmental Science from the University of Bayreuth in Germany (BSc, 2008; MSc, 2012).

Carina Mueller

André Vasconcelos

Policy & regulation

Commodity-driven deforestation and peatland loss emits more carbon than Germany

Stockholm Environment Institute

Spatial intelligence

Research

Chris is a research scientist with expertise in ecology, supply chain modelling, and private sector engagement. He joined Trase in 2018 and works in the impact and research teams, leading engagement with the corporate sector. Chris has helped develop models, tools and associated projects at SEI that explore the role of consumption and supply chain activities on environmental degradation and sustainable development. Chris holds a degree in Ecology, Conservation and the Environment (BSc, 2005) and Ecology (PhD, 2010) from the University of York. He works part-time on Trase.

Jolene Tan

Chris West

To deliver on sustainable consumption targets, countries must measure their footprints

Reports & case studies

Approaches to assessing commodity-driven deforestation

Assessing Germany’s soy deforestation risk

Michael Lathuillière

Trase enhances life cycle assessment with ‘commodity supply mix’

Supply chain mapping

Engagement

Clement is an Earth scientist and software developer who joined Trase in 2015. He is a co-founder of Trase and leads the development team behind Trase's data systems. He developed the first prototype of the Trase Earth platform. Before joining Trase, Clement was a researcher in planetary geophysics. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he developed tools to study the magnetism of extraterrestrial rocks, including lunar samples from the Apollo missions and meteorites. Clement holds degrees in geosciences from Grenoble University (MSc, 2005) and Aix-Marseille University (PhD, 2009).

Data

Erasmus is a scientist studying global food systems. He is based at UCLouvain and since 2018 has been working with the Trase research team to map commodity supply chains and analyse data for priority agendas. Erasmus is a qualified veterinarian and has a PhD on sustainable livestock farming, focusing on the impacts of the cattle ranching and animal feed sectors. Erasmus holds degrees from the University of Cambridge in Veterinary Medicine (MA VetMB, 2013), Food Security (MRes 2014), and Sustainable Livestock Production (PhD, 2018).

Erasmus zu Ermgassen

Traceability is not a silver bullet for reducing deforestation

Yuan Zhang 

Brazil

How Brazil and China can use data for a more sustainable cattle sector

James Richens

Valentin Guye

Cocoa traders fall short on supplier disclosure in Ghana

Osvaldo Pereira

Brazilian beef exports and deforestation

Action needed to address indirect sourcing 'blindspot'

Chocolate companies face deforestation risks from unknown cocoa supplies

Mapping cocoa exports from Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana

Coronavirus drives US beef imports from Amazon

Université catholique de Louvain

Jason is a geospatial data specialist and researcher. He started collaborating with Trase in 2018 and works on Indonesian supply chains. Previously, Jason was the Data Analytics and Visualization lead at The Forest Trust (now Earthworm Foundation) focusing on geo-data management, supply chain mapping, and data collection support for field assessments and smallholder engagement. He has broad experience in geospatial data analysis working in the private sector and non-profits in Malaysia and Australia. Jason holds a degree in Remote Sensing from the University of Technology Malaysia (BSc, 2004).

Jason Jon Benedict

Robert Heilmayr

Indonesia

Indonesian palm oil exports and deforestation

Indonesia makes progress towards zero palm oil deforestation

University of California, Santa Barbara

Jonathan is a conservation scientist and joined Trase in 2018. Jonathan works across Trase's impact and research teams mapping commodity supply chains and analysing Trase data for priority agendas. Before joining Trase, Jonathan investigated the ecological impacts of coastal land conversion, worked closely with business and sustainability managers, and researched the impacts of agricultural commodity consumption on biodiversity. Jonathan holds degrees in Zoology from the University of St Andrews (BSc, 2007) and the University of Cambridge (PhD, 2012). Jonathan works part-time on Trase.

Jonathan Green

Mapping the Indonesian shrimp supply chain

Mairon is a sustainable development policy and governance expert who joined Trase in 2018. Mairon leads the Trase research team. Before joining Trase, Mairon worked on multiple issues of agri-food system sustainability, landscape approaches, and bioeconomy politics. His work experience includes extensive field research in Brazil, Mexico, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, and Southern Africa. Mairon holds degrees in Environmental Studies from the University of Waterloo (MES, 2008) and the VU University Amsterdam (PhD, 2014).

Mairon G. Bastos Lima

How to ensure due diligence policies actually tackle deforestation  

Michael is an ecohydrologist and water footprint specialist who joined Trase in 2018. He leads Trase's supply-chain mapping team and research on priority agendas. Michael is a member of the Trase Management Team. Before joining Trase, he conducted research in Brazil and studied both water and carbon cycles in natural and agro-ecosystems. Michael holds degrees in Chemistry from the University of British Columbia (BSc, 2002) and Resources, Environment and Sustainability from the University of British Columbia (MSc, 2011; PhD, 2018).

Argentina: The overlooked hub of South American soy

Management

Rafaela is a researcher who joined Trase in 2022. She is based in Stockholm, and works with investigating connections between water resource use in agriculture and commodity trade. Before joining Trase, Rafaela worked as a Water Resources Engineer with water and wastewater services in Brazil, and as a researcher on agricultural economics, water footprints, and crop modeling. Rafaela holds a degree in Environmental Engineering from the Universidade Federal do Paraná (BSc., 2010) and degrees in Sustainability Science from Linköping University (MSc, 2015) and in Earth System Modelling from Hamburg University (PhD, 2020).

Robert is an interdisciplinary land system scientist with expertise in environmental economics and remote sensing who started collaborating with Trase in 2018. Robert works on supply chain mapping and sustainability research on the Indonesian palm oil and wood pulp sectors and is also a member of the Trase Scientific Advisory Committee. Robert holds a degree in environment, economics and politics from Claremont McKenna College (BA, 2006) and degrees in economics (MA, 2015) and environment and resources (PhD, 2016) from Stanford University.

Simon is a mathematician and modeller who joined Trase in 2018. He works across Trase's data and research teams mapping commodity supply chains and analysing Trase data for priority agendas and target users. Before joining Trase, Simon worked on global supply chain mapping and consumption based models. He has experience developing and applying methods for quantifying the flows of goods and their associated impacts. Simon holds degrees in Mathematics and Theoretical Ecology from the University of York (MMath, 2006; PhD, 2012). He works part-time on Trase.

Valentin is an economist researcher who joined Trase in 2023 and works in the Supply Chain Mapping and Research teams. He is in charge with updating and developing the cocoa supply chain models, in Ivory Coast and Ghana. Before that, Valentin was a PhD student at MCC Berlin and PSAE paris, where he did research on Indonesian palm oil deforestation and on pan-tropical indirect land use change, using econometrics. Valentin holds degrees in economics from Université Paris-Saclay (BSc, 2015; MSc, 2017; PhD, 2022) and in geography from Humboldt Universität zu Berlin (cotutelle PhD, 2022).

Smallholder cocoa farmers need support as EUDR compliance nears

Côte d'Ivoire cocoa exports and deforestation

Maria Tyldesley

Insights by Maria Tyldesley

Analysis
3 Sep 2024

Deforestation and climate change threaten Bolivia’s soy sector

Explainer
23 Aug 2023

Soy expansion drives deforestation in Bolivia

Explainer
20 Jun 2021

High deforestation risk for beef from the Paraguayan Chaco

Other Team Members

Carina Mueller

Chris West

Clement Suavet

Erasmus zu Ermgassen

Jason Jon Benedict

Jonathan Green

Mairon G. Bastos Lima

Michael Lathuilliere

Rafaela Flach

Robert Heilmayr

Simon Croft

Valentin Guye

Maria Tyldesley

Insights by Maria Tyldesley

Analysis3 Sep 2024

Deforestation and climate change threaten Bolivia’s soy sector

Explainer23 Aug 2023

Soy expansion drives deforestation in Bolivia

Explainer20 Jun 2021

High deforestation risk for beef from the Paraguayan Chaco

Other Team Members

Carina Mueller

Chris West

Clement Suavet

Erasmus zu Ermgassen

Jason Jon Benedict

Jonathan Green

Mairon G. Bastos Lima

Michael Lathuilliere

Rafaela Flach

Robert Heilmayr

Simon Croft

Valentin Guye

Analysis
3 Sep 2024

Explainer
23 Aug 2023

Explainer
20 Jun 2021