The Navigator, October 2025 Edition

Rory Jacobson is the Head of Policy at Relae. Previously, he served as the Director of the Carbon Dioxide Removal program within the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). In previous roles at DOE, Jacobson has supported and coordinated FECM’s carbon removal and management programs and projects.

Prior to joining DOE, Jacobson was a Deputy Director of Policy at Carbon180, where he managed the federal policy portfolio for engineered carbon removal pathways. He has led carbon management research and analysis in multiple roles, including with the Natural Resources Defense Council and the World Resources Institute, and Relae. Jacobson received his master’s in environmental management from the Yale School of Forestry, where he was a Kerry Fellow.

Before joining Relae, Thaddeus worked in Washington, DC for more than a decade, focusing on energy, environment, and climate policy. Most recently, he served as Legislative Director for Congressman Marc Veasey where he led the Congressman’s legislative team. He is especially proud to have played a part in building transformative climate legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). Prior to joining Congressman Veasey’s office, he worked at the U.S. Department of Energy in the office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).

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Dr. Sarah Federman has cross-sector expertise in analytics, forest conservation, working lands policy, and the science underpinning biodiverse and resilient landscapes.

In the policy sector, Dr. Federman contributed as a lead author and coordinator to R&D roadmaps for landscape resiliency and climate-smart innovation for the US Department of Agriculture's Office of the Chief Scientist. While at the USDA, she also supported a federal interagency R&D strategy with the Department of Energy focused on the circular carbon economy. In the private sector, Dr. Federman led, developed, and implemented data-driven continuous improvement frameworks for an indoor agricultural technology startup, as part of a broader strategy to enable responsible vertical scaling. 

In academia, Dr. Federman has deep expertise in the ecological dynamics supporting the structure and function of tropical forests. Her work includes peer-reviewed recommendations for forest conservation and management of critically endangered species. She has managed multilateral teams and collaborations in Peru, Madagascar, and Trinidad and Tobago focused on forest ecology and conservation.

Dr. Federman holds a PhD from Yale University's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and a M.S. in forest science from the Yale School of the Environment. Her graduate studies were supported by the National Science Foundation's Graduate Student Research Fellowship Program.

Shelby has focused her career on helping companies assess and reduce their emissions. She has worked across sectors, leveraging her expertise to help organizations focus where impact can be most effective. Her strategic abilities inspire confidence in her clients, as she helps businesses accurately calculate their carbon footprints, identify emission reduction opportunities, and implement effective strategies to achieve sustainability goals.

Working closely with clients, Shelby tailors her approach to meet each organization's unique needs. She employs cutting-edge tools and industry best practices to ensure precise and reliable carbon assessments. Shelby's comprehensive knowledge, from data collection and analysis to reporting and verification, fosters confidence in her ability to guide companies through the complexities of carbon accounting with clarity and precision.

Before joining Relae, Shelby was the head of GHG Accounting at VitalMetrics before being acquired by Watershed. She worked with customers to track their emissions throughout their supply chain, create science-based targets, and develop decarbonization plans to meet those targets. At Watershed, she scaled her impacts by leveraging software to streamline data collection for businesses of all sizes. From her previous work, Shelby brings a holistic perspective on leveraging software for scalable impact, with the personal touch of the individualized needs of every business.

Julia Millot is a Senior Power Decarbonization Manager at Relae, working directly with clients on measuring and reducing electricity-related GHG emissions and optimizing power portfolios. Julia has over a decade of experience working with clients in the energy, tech, retail, financial, and manufacturing sectors on growth and climate strategies. Prior to Relae, she led US Climate Advisory at Position Green and ran her own consultancy, Green Opal Advisors, focusing on corporate decarbonization.

Before Relae, Chimdi worked as the Carbon Markets Data and Policy Lead at EcoAct (part of Schneider Electric), where he created the knowledge management system covering frameworks such as CORSIA, Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, and the ICVCM Core Carbon Principles. As part of the Research and Innovation Team, he built scenario modeling tools to quantify the exposure to regulatory carbon pricing mechanisms, such as the EU ETS and CBAM, as well as the costs of assorted carbon offsetting approaches.

At EcoAct, Chimdi also worked as a sustainability consultant, supporting clients with GHG inventory accounting, environmental disclosures (e.g., CDP), and the development of decarbonization strategies. 

Chimdi began his career in Washington DC, advising clients on policy developments and technology innovation across the energy and transportation sectors.