Dr. Lauren Gifford is a human-environment geographer exploring the intersections of global climate change policy, conservation, markets and justice. Her work asks how, and by whom, climate and conservation policies are enacted. She teaches at the University of Colorado, Boulder and Metropolitan State University of Denver, and is a Visiting Researcher at the Environmental Justice / Climate Justice Hub at University of California, Santa Barbara. She conducted research on forest carbon offsets in Alto Mayo Protected Forest, and used it as a case study in her doctoral dissertation.