Fort Collins, CO, Feb. 23, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Ecosystem Modeling and Data Consortium (EMDC) at Colorado State University announced that Grassroots Carbon, a leading developer of soil carbon removal projects on U.S. grasslands, has joined the Consortium as an industry member. The partnership brings large-scale, real-world project insights into academic ecosystem modeling efforts focused on improving land management, climate solutions, and agricultural sustainability.
Grassroots Carbon partners directly with ranchers to implement and scale regenerative grazing practices and advance credible, science-backed soil carbon removals. The company currently works with ranchers across more than 2 million acres in 22 states and has delivered over 1.9 million tons of verified carbon removals for leading corporate partners.
Since 2022, Grassroots Carbon has paid $40 million directly to ranchers, incentivizing land stewardship practices that deliver measurable climate outcomes. Through its model, Grassroots Carbon brings large-scale project data from across millions of acres of U.S. grasslands into research efforts aimed at understanding carbon sequestration, ecosystem health, and land productivity.
“U.S. grasslands represent one of the largest untapped carbon solutions in the world, with unmatched economic and ecological benefits for ranching operations and working land communities,” said Brad Tipper, CEO of Grassroots Carbon. “At Grassroots Carbon, we are generating meter-deep, field-verified soil carbon data across more than two million acres of working grazing lands. By partnering with the Ecosystem Modeling and Data Consortium, we are working alongside some of the leading scientists to strengthen the ecosystem models that underpin high-integrity soil carbon outcomes. Together, we can build the scientific foundation required to scale credible carbon solutions and ensure that America’s working lands play a central role for generations.”
Grassroots Carbon’s Data and Soil Science (DSS) team is led by Dr. Jay Weeks and includes PhD- and Master’s-level experts in soil science and related disciplines, ensuring that the company’s measurement approach is grounded in rigorous field science and informed by the latest academic research.
The EMDC brings together scientists, NGOs, and industry leaders to advance cutting-edge modeling and data-driven approaches that improve land management, climate solutions, and agricultural sustainability. By welcoming Grassroots Carbon, the Consortium strengthens its ability to integrate applied insights and real-world project data into the scientific foundations used for soil carbon markets and nature-based climate solutions.
“Partnering with Grassroots Carbon offers a great opportunity to support the testing, refinement, and validation of models and data collection strategies to address the challenges of real-world application in diverse environments,” said Dr. Corinne Walsh, Consortium Lead at the Ecosystem Modeling and Data Consortium. “High-quality ecosystem modeling depends not only on data collected through academic research, but is strengthened by deployment at commercial scale. Grassroots Carbon has been highly engaged in supporting our community-focused efforts to improve data and modeling tools that could ultimately support a variety of approaches for deploying high quality land-based climate solutions.”
This partnership reflects Colorado State University’s land-grant mission and long-standing commitment to building bridges between academia, industry, and policy to address pressing challenges related to food security and ecosystem resilience. By fostering pre-competitive collaboration and transparent science, the EMDC aims to ensure that ecosystem models and data systems used in climate decision-making are robust, credible, and responsive to real-world conditions. Grassroots Carbon’s participation in the Consortium will contribute industry perspective and operational experience to EMDC working groups, infrastructure development, and community discussions focused on improving the integrity, scalability, and impact of soil-based climate solutions.
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About Grassroots Carbon
Grassroots Carbon partners with ranchers to build resilient operations that honor heritage and shape the future of ranching, stewarding healthy soils, restoring grasslands, strengthening ecosystems, and enriching rural communities. By unlocking the potential of America’s 655 million acres of working lands to store carbon, these landscapes can become one of the planet’s most powerful climate solutions for generations to come.
Grassroots Carbon currently works with ranchers across 2 million acres in 22 states, implementing regenerative practices that improve soil health, restore bird habitats, and drive measurable, nature-based carbon drawdown. The company collaborates with leading organizations, including Audubon Conservation Ranching, Texas Agricultural Land Trust, and Colorado State University’s Soil Carbon Solutions Center to ensure scientific rigor and transparency.
Grassroots Carbon’s soil carbon credits are trusted by leading corporations, including Nestlé, Microsoft, Shopify, Olipop, Chevron and Boeing, to advance their carbon commitments and reach their sustainability goals.
About the Ecosystem Modeling and Data Consortium
The Ecosystem Modeling and Data Consortium (EMDC) in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Colorado State University is a collaborative hub connecting researchers, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private-sector partners to advance the science and application of ecosystem modeling. Its mission is to support the scientific advancement of data and models to inform sustainable land management, climate adaptation, and decision-making across agricultural and natural systems.
Learn more at: https://www.soilcarbonsolutionscenter.com/consortium
