On October 30th, 2023, Harvard students and alumni heard about careers in decarbonization and innovation from Ben Webster, Director of Policy at MiQ (Methane Intelligence) and Jason Neff, Soil and Climate Innovation Principal Scientist at Syngenta Group. Ben Webster is Director of Policy at MiQ (Methane Intelligence), a not-for-profit climate tech foundation undertaking cutting-edge work to reduce methane emissions in the oil and gas sector. has an extensive background in environmental policy and government relations. Most recently, he served in the leadership of the University of Colorado Boulder’s graduate programs in sustainability and environmental management. Prior to this, he served as the Managing Director of the Sustainability Innovation Lab at Colorado – an innovative co-working space at the University of Colorado driving sustainability solutions between NGOs, start-ups, and the university. Before moving to Boulder, he advised senior members of Congress on water resources, infrastructure, sustainability, and public health issues while working as a staffer for the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was very involved in legislation and administrative oversight concerning the Clean Water Act, water infrastructure, and other water resources policies. In addition, he also participated in the legislative response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as developing elements of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Ben has worked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the National Academy of Public Administration, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Ben has recently worked with the BlueGreen Alliance on the scope of oil and gas operations in Colorado and New Mexico. He received his PhD and MA degrees in Government and his Master of Public Policy degree from Georgetown University, and his BA in Political Science from Bates College. Dr. Jason Neff is the Soil and Climate Innovation Principal Scientist at the Syngenta Group headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. In this role, Dr. Neff leads efforts to identify and deploy new technologies that reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and improve soil health and agricultural productivity. From 2003 to 2023, Dr. Neff was a Professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and the founding Director of The Sustainability Innovation Lab at Colorado (SILC) created to accelerate the development of use-inspired sustainability science and technology. In recent years, Dr. Neff has led efforts to develop new analytical tools to support smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and served as the Chief Scientist for a startup company focused on natural carbon sequestration solutions. Dr. Neff has a Ph.D. from Stanford University and a B.A. Summa Cum Laude in Environmental Biology from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is the author of more than 100 academic publications and an introductory environmental science textbook called ‘A Changing Planet’ and has raised more than 30 million dollars in funding from government and non-profits to support research in sustainability science. Learn more about the Salata Institute: https://salatainstitute.harvard.edu/ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/harvardsalata Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harvardsalata Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/salata-institute-harvard/