Meryl Richards

Meryl Richards is the director of food and forests, for the sustainability nonprofit Ceres. Richards collaborates with investors and companies to address deforestation and climate change in global supply chains. She leads research on the climate impacts of agriculture and commodity-driven deforestation and how food companies can reduce the material risks associated with those impacts. Her current work focuses on supplier incentives for avoiding deforestation and communicating deforestation-related climate risks to investors. Prior to joining Ceres, Richards led research on the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions from food production with the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, where. During that time, she also held an appointment as a Research Associate at the University of Vermont, where she remains an Affiliate of the Gund Institute for Environment. Meryl has authored over 25 publications on the environmental impacts of agriculture and food supply chains. She holds a Ph.D. in plant and soil science from the University of Vermont and a BA and BE in engineering from Dartmouth College.