Katt Lundy at the Climate Adaptation Science Center

Katt Lundy is a recent graduate of the EPM program, with specializations in conservation management and environmental justice. Katt is grateful to have been able to study at the intersection of her specializations for her practicum project. In the summer of 2020, Katt began her practicum under funding from the Climate Adaptation Science Center. Katt researched Indigenous traditional burning and carbon offset programs in the U.S. and abroad.

As the climate warms, wildfires are burning hotter and more frequently across the globe. Since time immemorial, Indigenous and Aboriginal people have used fire as a land management strategy through a process called traditional - or cultural - burning. When the land is burned strategically through traditional burning, high carbon emissions associated with wildfires can be avoided. Where carbon offset programs exist, these avoided emissions are turned into carbon credits with a cash value. There have been successful Indigenous ranger programs across the globe that have been successful in returning cultural burns to the land and people, while enhancing the social and economic welfare of Indigenous communities.

For her practicum, Katt researched the history and implementation of different traditional burn carbon offset programs. Katt’s research is ongoing. Katt hopes that her work will add to academic literature that centers the social, cultural and economic welfare of Indigenous communities in complex environmental issues.