Tara is passionate about realigning natural and human systems to forge more sustainable models of economic development. She has worked across the academic, nonprofit, finance and technology sectors towards this end. Prior to joining Stanford University's Woods Institute for the Environment and Doerr School of Sustainability in 2025 as Managing Director of Natural Climate Solutions, Tara spent a decade leading the development and application of satellite data products for environmental accounting at Planet Labs, PBC. She helped spearhead Planet's product and business development strategies in civil government and commercial markets, unlocking a range of use cases for new technologies to help practically and cost-effectively value the services healthy ecosystems provide and price the costs of unsustainable degradation.
Prior to Planet, Tara helped pioneer early research, standards, and financing for Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) at Duke University’s Nicholas Institute and Code REDD. She has advised several foundations and investment firms on integrating the reality of climate change into their portfolios, including organizing the Climate & Capital summit that brought together investors representing over $1 trillion AUM alongside the COP21 in Paris and launching the first web platform for verified forest carbon projects at the COP20 in Lima.
Tara holds a Master’s of Environmental Management and International Development from Duke University, and a Bachelor’s of Science in Environmental Science from Gettysburg College. She lives in Marin County, California with her family, where she enjoys trail running and camping.