Suman Samanta
Kolkata
Summary
Sustainability expert and climate change specialist with 13 years of experience in sustainable agriculture and technology integration. Proven track record in estimating and quantifying GHG fluxes, overseeing agriculture-based carbon projects, and navigating carbon registries like VERRA and Gold Standard. As the lead of the agriculture wing, adept at due diligence reporting, institutional partnership development, and addressing technical queries for stakeholders. Committed to leveraging data-driven insights to drive impactful sustainability solutions.
Overview
14
14
years of professional experience
Work History
Principal Scientist
Varaha ClimateAg. Pvt. Ltd
Gurugram, Haryana
01.2024 - Current
- Leading the scientific and technical oversight of regenerative agriculture programs in India, Africa, and Bangladesh, managing carbon-offset projects listed on VERRA under the Regenerative Agriculture framework, while ensuring compliance with global sustainability standards.
- Handled and resolved complex technical queries and due diligence rounds for prominent investors, buyers, and project partners, including Microsoft, Mirova, Climate Asset Management (CAM), Kellanova, Diageo, and South Pole.
- Oversaw critical processes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, develop net-zero strategies, and implement cutting-edge technologies, significantly advancing climate-positive initiatives across agricultural landscapes.
- Developed outreach initiatives with scientific teams to promote sustainable agriculture worldwide.
- Led diverse scientific team to drive research on regenerative agriculture and sustainability.
- Mentoring the modeling team, ensuring the rigorous application of modeling protocols for GHG emission quantification and SOC sequestration, including model sensitivity, calibration, validation, and uncertainty analysis.
Senior Scientist
Carbon Modelling
Gurugram, Haryana
01.2023 - 12.2023
- Quantified GHG and SOC metrics in paddy-wheat systems using the DNDC 9.5 model.
- Created Project Design Document (PDD) and verification reports demonstrating adherence to carbon registry standards.
- Collaborated with independent modeling experts and Validation & Verification Bodies (VVBs) to validate carbon credit methodologies and project assessments.
- Institutional Partnership Development: Established and managed strategic partnerships to enhance project credibility and expand sustainable agriculture initiatives.
- Farmer Outreach & Advisory: Educated smallholder farmers on the benefits of regenerative agriculture, and guided them in enrolling in carbon farming projects to access financial incentives.
Agriculture GHG Modeler
Grow Indigo Pvt. Ltd
New Delhi
02.2022 - 12.2022
- Quantification of GHG emissions from agricultural fields using the DNDC 9.5 simulation model.
- Estimation of carbon credits for farmers who have changed conventional practices to regenerative agricultural practices.
- Preparation of validation and verification reports, and communication to VVBs.
- Established criteria for data quality control collected from farmers using scientific perspectives.
- Conducted sessions emphasizing the practical benefits of Carbon Farming.
- Offered expert insights on international project evaluations.
SERB- National Post Doctoral Fellow
SERB & ICAR-IARI
New Delhi
02.2020 - 01.2022
- Being the PI of the project, I utilized Eddy covariance flux tower technology to ensure high-precision data collection and analysis.
- Conducted quantitative assessments of the relationship between environmental drivers and ecosystem fluxes of carbon and moisture, providing valuable insights into the dynamic interactions within agroecosystems.
- Developed and applied surface energy balance algorithms based on remote sensing to accurately estimate evapotranspiration rates, enhancing the understanding of water use in agricultural landscapes.
- Successfully upscaled ecosystem fluxes to the regional level for maize-wheat agroecosystems by integrating remotely sensed proxies with ground observations, contributing to improved regional agricultural management strategies.
- Processing satellite images of different areas to monitor evapotranspiration using Google Earth Engine, ArcGIS 10.6, and ENVI software.
Senior Research Fellow
ICAR-CRIDA & Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya
Kalyani, West Bengal
05.2011 - 12.2019
- Studied climate change effects on crop yield and development under AICRP Agrometeorology project sponsored by ICAR.
- Enhanced expertise by working on diverse agricultural systems including rice, potato, wheat, mustard, cauliflower, and broccoli over an eight and a half year period.
- Disseminated micro-level agromet advisories through information communication technologies under ICAR-AICRPAM-NICRA Project.
- Analysis of extreme weather events and climate data of West Bengal to prepare the "Agroclimatic Atlas of West Bengal."
- Development of a new empirical equation to project solar radiation.
- I was also involved in the ‘Crop Weather Outlook’ website update, the preparation, and dissemination of Agromet Advisory Bulletins for the ‘NAAS Bulletin’ and ‘NITI Aayog.’
Education
National Eligibility Test for Assistant Professor - Environmental Sciences
UGC
New Delhi12.2019
Ph.D. - Environmental Science
VISVA-BHARATI
BOLPUR, WEST BENGAL02.2019
M.Sc. - Environmental Science
UNIVERSITY OF KALYANI
KALYANI, WEST BENGAL07.2010
B.Sc. (Hons.) - Physiology (Hons.), Zoology, Chemistry
UNIVERSITY OF CALCUTTA
KOLKATA07.2008
Skills
- Biogeochemical Modelling (DNDC, DSSAT and Daycent Model)
- Carbon Offset Project Development
- AFOLU/ VCS/ GS
- VM0042/ VMD0053
- Project Management
- Sustainable Agriculture
- Eddy Covariance (EddyPro, TOVI)
- Audit Report Preparation (PDMR, MRV, NPRR, Ex-ante, MVR, etc)
- Article Publishing & Peer Review
- RS & GIS (ArcGIS, ERDAS Imagine & ENVI)
- Programming Languages (R, Python & MATLAB)
- Carbon credit verification
Accomplishments
- Received the prestigious “Prof. B. V. Ramana Rao Best Paper Award” for the year 2021 from “Association of Agrometeorologists” for publishing the research article ‘Determining the radiation use efficiency of potato grown in Eastern India from sunshine hour data: a simple approach’ in ‘Spanish Journal of Agricultural Research’.
Languages
Bengali
First Language
English
Proficient (C2)
C2
Hindi
Proficient (C2)
C2
Affiliations
Training participated
- Participated in the two-week online course on "Overview of Geoprocessing using Python," conducted by the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, ISRO, Dehradun, from January 18 to January 29, 2021
- Participated in NASA's ARSET on 'Satellite Remote Sensing for Agricultural Applications' during April 14, 21, 28, and May 5, 2020
- Participated in the One-week Training Program on “Geospatial Technologies for Climate Studies” conducted by National Remote Sensing Centre, ISRO, Hyderabad during 8 – 12 April, 2019.
- Participated in and was awarded 'First Class' in the 12-week training program on "Geospatial Technologies and Applications," conducted by the National Remote Sensing Centre, ISRO, Hyderabad, from November 12, 2018, to February 1, 2019
- Participated and received a Grade ‘A’ in the 12-day training program on “Climate Change Impact Analysis” conducted by IIEST, Shibpur, and sponsored by the “Ministry of HRD Scheme on Global Initiative on Academic Network (GIAN)” from May 23 to June 3, 2016, held at IIEST, Shibpur.
- International: 5
- National: 13
A. National
1. Association of Agrometeorologists
Life Member (Membership No. LM-712)
2. Indian Society of Remote Sensing
Life Member (Membership No. L-5257)
3. Indian Meteorological Society
Life Member (Membership No.- LM-3507)
B. International1. AsiaFlux
Life Member (AsiaFlux ID- 166)
Publications
- Peer-reviewed research articles: 16
- Books: 1
- Book Chapters: 5
- Technical Books: 2
References
References available upon request.
Timeline
Principal Scientist
Varaha ClimateAg. Pvt. Ltd
01.2024 - Current
Senior Scientist
Carbon Modelling
01.2023 - 12.2023
Agriculture GHG Modeler
Grow Indigo Pvt. Ltd
02.2022 - 12.2022
SERB- National Post Doctoral Fellow
SERB & ICAR-IARI
02.2020 - 01.2022
Senior Research Fellow
ICAR-CRIDA & Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya
05.2011 - 12.2019
National Eligibility Test for Assistant Professor - Environmental Sciences
UGC
Ph.D. - Environmental Science
VISVA-BHARATI
M.Sc. - Environmental Science
UNIVERSITY OF KALYANI
B.Sc. (Hons.) - Physiology (Hons.), Zoology, Chemistry
UNIVERSITY OF CALCUTTA
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