YCNCC Spring Symposium Celebrates Five Years of Leadership in Natural Climate Solutions

The Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture (YCNCC) concluded its 2026 Spring Symposium on Friday, marking both a successful two-day gathering and the Center’s fifth anniversary of advancing research and innovation in natural climate solutions. The Symposium brought together leaders from academia, industry, nonprofits, and government to explore how carbon dioxide removal (CDR) can be scaled to climate-relevant levels by 2040.

Hosted in person on the Yale campus and with a virtual attendance option, the event convened experts from across the carbon removal ecosystem for a series of talks, panel discussions, and informal conversation focused on the scientific, financial, and policy work that needs to be done to advance the responsible implementation and scaling of CDR.

Day one of the Symposium opened with remarks from YCNCC Founding Co-Director David Bercovici that included remembrances of the Center’s founding and early days. Keynote speaker Steven Hamburg, Chief Scientist at Environmental Defense Fund, followed with an excellent talk that offered “A Biospheric Perspective of CDR; Channeling Some of Yale’s Greatest Thinkers.” 

The keynote set the stage for two days of discussion focused on the opportunities, challenges, and pathways for scaling carbon dioxide removal. Morgan Edwards, Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin, delivered an invited talk on the “State of CDR,” while Giana Amador, Executive Director of the Carbon Removal Alliance, presented an invited talk on “CDR’s Socio-Political Context.” Together, the sessions explored the rapidly evolving landscape of carbon dioxide removal and the broader societal and political dynamics shaping the field.

The afternoon continued with a set of talks on “co-drivers,” followed by a panel discussion. Speakers included:

• Carbon + Co-Drivers = Healthy Forests Financing? — Sara Kuebbing, Assistant Professor (incoming), Yale School of the Environment 
• Do Soil-Based Solutions Deliver the Win–Wins Needed to Scale? — Emily Oldfield, Senior Agricultural Scientist, Environmental Defense Fund 
• Enhanced Weathering as a Land Management Practice — Chris Reinhard, Professor and Georgia Power Chair, Georgia Institute of Technology 
• Coastal CDR Integrations that Center Public Benefit — Gabby Kitch, Associate Research Scientist, Yale University

Day one concluded with an evening reception at Yale Farm, where attendees gathered outdoors in beautiful spring weather overlooking Yale’s Science Hill. The reception provided an opportunity for speakers, researchers, students, and partners to continue conversations in an informal setting while enjoying food from the Big Green Truck and celebrating YCNCC’s fifth anniversary together. 

Day two kicked off with a conversation between YCNCC Co-Director Peter Raymond and Jeffrey Page, Senior Attorney II, Government and Regulatory Affairs at FedEx Corporation on “YCNCC’S Fifth Anniversary and What’s Next.” Andres Clarens, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Virginia, then delivered a final invited talk on Negative Emissions in Next-Generation Integrated Models: Gaps, Approaches, and Why It Matters for Policy. The morning of day two also featured a panel discussion on “Funding CDR at the Required Scale,” moderated by YCNCC Managing Director Toby Bryce. Panelists included Giana Amador of the Carbon Removal Alliance; Vijnan Batchu, Managing Director & Global Head Center for Carbon Transition at J.P. Morgan; Patrick McGrath, Program Director for Climate Tech at The Schmidt Family Foundation; and Jeffrey Page of FedEx Corporation. 

A series of “vision talks” followed, outlining opportunities, challenges, knowledge gaps, and enabling strategies to achieve CDR at climate-relevant scale by 2040 across six major pathways. Speakers included:

• Achieving the Promise of Natural Climate Solutions in Forests — Susan Cook-Patton, Lead Reforestation Scientist, The Nature Conservancy
• Soil Carbon CDR – Can You Believe What You Cannot See? — Mark Bradford, Professor of Soils and Ecosystem Ecology, Yale School of the Environment
• Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage — Daniel L. Sanchez, Professor of Cooperative Extension, University of California, Berkeley
• Enhanced Weathering at Scale Requires Focus on Farmers — Noah Planavsky, Professor of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Yale University
• Open Water – Navigating the Next Twenty Years of Marine CDR — Jessica N. Cross, Earth Scientist
• To Infinity…and Beyond? Scaling Direct Air Capture — Sean McCoy, Associate Professor, Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary

The Symposium concluded with closing remarks from Peter Raymond, emphasizing the importance of continued cross-sector collaboration for CDR to achieve meaningful climate impact over the coming decades. YCNCC extends its sincere thanks to all speakers, attendees, partners, and participants who joined the Symposium in person and virtually to celebrate five years of progress and to help shape the future of carbon dioxide removal.