Meet our team
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has”.
CHAMPOK BURAGOHAIN
DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS
Champok holds a master’s degree in Energy Efficiency from UPES, Dehradun and started his career as a researcher in research and action oriented projects in the field of energy efficiency, renewable energy and climate change in IRADe, New Delhi. With the development of international carbon market, Champok worked as a consultant for project execution and development under CDM and other voluntary schemes like VCS and GS and worked in reputed organizations like Asia Carbon, FICCI and GIZ.
As a lead auditor, technical expert and technical reviewer Champok worked in a reputed certification body for 10 years and completed either validation or verification of more than 200 projects in various schemes like CDM, GS and VCS across India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand, VietNam, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Malaysia and Mongolia. Being a qualified lead auditor for ISO 9001: 2008, ISO 14001:2004, ISO 50001:2011 and FSC: CoC, Champok has performed audits for these management systems as well. In Ecolance, Champok serves as Executive Director and also handles projects as Team Lead, Technical Expert and Technical Reviewer.
REKHA MENON
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
Rekha Menon is a motivated individual with strong and diverse knowledge in Climate Change and Sustainability. Rekha has over 16 years of validation/verification experience put together with consultancy experience in the field of Energy, Waste Management, Manufacturing Industries, Transportation and Forestry projects including REDD.
She has carried out validation/verification activities of more than 300 projects in various emission reduction standards across South East Asia, Africa and Latin America. She is known for developing customer loyality and delivering high quality services. She was responsible for managing the climate change and sustainability business of India and South East Asia region for a reputed certification body. Along with the GHG audits, she has actively contributed in developing schemes like FSC-CoC and Sustainability assurance. She holds an M.Tech in Environmental Management and M.Sc. in Environmental Science.
HIMOLIN BASUMATARY
GHG AUDITOR
Himolin Basumatary holds an M.Sc. in Environment Management and Ph.D. in Environmental Science. He has research experience of over 8 years in the field of Natural Resource Conservation and Management, Landscape ecology, Forestry, Fluvial Geomorphology, Climate change, and Land-Use-Land-cover (LULC).
He worked as a Post-doctoral (Senior Project Associate) researcher in a project funded by the Department of Science and Technology, India – National Mission for Sustaining Himalayan Ecosystems (DST-NMSHE). As an academic researcher, he has published several research articles in various journals of repute. He has also experience in handling various statistical and Remote Sensing/GIS software including Rstudio, SPSS, ArcGIS, QGIS, Erdas Imagine, FRAGSTAS, and Google Earth Pro. As a GHG Auditor and Technical Expert (Forestry), he has been actively involved in carrying out validation/verification activities of VCS and Social Carbon projects across South-East Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
SNEHA DESAI
ADMINISTRATION OFFICER
Sneha is a commerce graduate with more than 15 years of experience in HR management, customer Service operations and Cross-functional Team Management. A Dynamic and motivated professional with a proven record of generating and building relationships, managing technical and business consulting projects from concept to completion
BISWAJIT LAHON
GHG AUDITOR
Biswajit Lahon holds a B.Tech Degree in Energy Engineering in NEHU, Shillong. Biswajit has done his B.Tech final project in Energy Auditing. He is a motivated individual with a strong work ethic and good critical thinking, organization and multitasking abilities combined with dedicated, forward thinking and creative nature. Comprehensive knowledge of current research and trends in the field of renewable energy and sustainable development.
PREM KUMAR POKHREL
LEAD AUDITOR
Mr. Pokhrel is pursuing his Doctoral Degree in Energy and Environment Policy from Korea University, South Korea. He holds master’s degree in Energy Systems and Management from University of Flensburg, Germany.
He did his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and Diploma in Civil Engineering from TU, Nepal. He has more than 18 years of experience out of which 12 years of experience specifically in the field of climate and carbon financing in renewable energy (off-grid/on-grid: Solar, Mini/Micro hydro projects, Biogas, Waste management, Biomass) with key expertise in renewable energy planning, technical design, energy financing and green growth. He has hands on experience in preparing national level government policies and strategy documents basically in formulation of Low Carbon Economic Development Strategy, Nationally Determined Contribution, GHG inventory for National Communication, District Climate and Energy Plans in Nepal.
He has also led the accreditation of a government agency in Nepal as Direct Access Entity to Green Climate Fund. He has also involved in developing project concepts and proposals for NAMA facility, Green Climate Fund and project document to develop project under article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement. He has been closely involved in developing, implementing and managing carbon projects (CDM, GS and VERRA). He has been involved in capacity building on climate change, renewable energy and carbon financing.
GUILHERME BERWERTH STUCCHI
GHG AUDITOR /TECHNICAL EXPERT
Mr. Guilherme Berwerth Stucchi holds Master’s degree in Forest Science Program & Forest Resources with Silviculture and Forest Management from the University of São Paulo – Superior School of Agriculture “Luiz de Queiroz”. He has more than 15 years of experience in the field of Forest conservation, management , silviculture activities including forest carbon inventory. He has over 12 years of Auditing experience in the field of VCS REDD projects and Forest certification audits.
He is a qualified lead assessor in Environmental Management Systems, FS-COC and forest management certification. He is also a qualified auditor from Rainforest alliance standard for natural forest management (business and community management). He has been actively involved in validation/verification of forest carbon projects (REDD) and verification of legality since 2005. Participated in more than 80 forestry, chain of custody audits. He is also involved in providing advisory activities for forest companies in the Amazon on the issues related to forest management and suitability for FSC certification, also very much familiar with issues surrounding drivers of deforestation, and forest legislation and governance.
TARUS GEORGE KIPKORIR
GHG AUDITOR /TECHNICAL EXPERT
Mr. Tarus George Kipkorir holds a bachelor’s degree in Forestry from Moi University, Kenya, M.Sc. (Climate Change) and M.Sc. Natural Resource Management (Forestry) from University of Nairobi and Egerton University, respectively. He is currently pursuing his PhD focusing on soil effluxes from Mangrove Ecosystem. Tarus is currently the Senior Conservator of Forests-Climate Change Unit, at the Kenya Forests Service where he provides expert technical support in the implementation of climate change strategies and interventions aimed at sustainable management of forestry resources in Kenya.
Tarus is an experienced Forestry and Climate Change professional with over ten solid years of technical practice. He is a key expert, and project lead in numerous consortia conceptualizing and developing Forests, livelihoods, and Climate Change programmes. He is highly motivated, adaptable and dependable. This persona has over the years provided him an opportunity to serve in various leadership positions including the Forest Society Forest of Kenya as chairman of science and Technology Committee; and most recently Member, Technical advisory committee of Plan Vivo Foundation, among others.
DEBARSHI DAS
GHG AUDITOR /TECHNICAL EXPERT
With a Master's degree in Energy Engineering from Tezpur University, Debarshi has transitioned from being an Assistant Project Engineer at IIT Guwahati, where he managed sophisticated analytical instruments, to spearheading Improved Cookstove Projects and Carbon Market initiatives across Northeast India while also carrying out pilot ICS projects in a few other countries of Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
His expertise lies in understanding and implementing sustainable solutions to mitigate carbon emissions through hands-on experience and a deep understanding of energy systems. He is a certified GHG Accounting Lead Verifier in accordance with ISO 14064-1:2018, ISO 14064-2:2019 & ISO 14064-3:2019. He also has co-authored two journal papers during his academic career, one related to performance analysis of a grid connected solar power plant and the other one related to synthesis of biodiesel using nano catalyst.
ESWAR MURTY
GHG AUDITOR /TECHNICAL EXPERT
Eswar Murty has strong knowledge in GHG, Climate Change and Sustainability. Eswar has over 17 years of GHG validation/verification auditing experience and has worked in around 200 Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Voluntary carbon emission reduction projects as per UNFCCC guidelines in the areas of Energy industries (renewable/non-renewable), Energy Demand, Waste handling & disposal, Oil and Gas Industries and Manufacturing industries, as a Team leader, Auditor and also as a Technical reviewer. As a GHG Verifier, Eswar has been involved in Verification and Certification of GHG inventory/ Carbon Foot print for Organization /product level as per ISO 14064 standard.
Eswar was incharge of CDM Certification Body of TUV SUD in handling the day to day operations of the Certification Body and help in maintaining the Accreditation status as a DOE for 10 years. He was responsible for the qualification, monitoring, training and evaluation of the auditors, approval of Validation/Verification reports and maintaining the quality management procedures and records pertaining to the Certification Body.
Eswar has worked in the Certification team of SustainCert in reviewing and approving of Gold Standard Projects in the areas of Energy and Waste management, and has also been as a trainer for the Project developers and the Validation/Verification bodies.
Eswar is currently the Certification Head at EcoLance Private Limited.
RISHABH KATRE
GHG AUDITOR /TECHNICAL EXPERT
Rishabh is a passionate environmentalist with a master’s degree in Environment Management from Forest Research Institute, Dehradun. He did his internship at National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nagpur on projects related to ESG, EIA, GIS and Sustainability. He is a trainee Auditor in EcoLance AFLOU Team.
GAURAV AROTE
GHG AUDITOR /TECHNICAL EXPERT
Gaurav Arote is a distinguished GIS and Remote Sensing Professional with a robust academic background and over six years of industry experience. Holding an M.Tech degree in Geo-informatics and an M.A. in Geography, Gaurav has honed his skills in Digital Image Processing, Spatial Analysis, and Geo-Statistical Analysis. His expertise extends to a variety of software tools, including ArcGIS, QGIS, ERDAS IMAGINE, and Google Earth Pro. Gaurav's contributions to the field are notable, including his co-authorship in a study titled "Mercury Rising: Examining LST Links with NDVI, NDWI, NDBI & SMI in the Kamrup Metropolitan District, India Using Geospatial Technologies.
" His commitment to professional development is evident through his active participation in workshops, conferences, and training programs, such as the IIRS Outreach Programs and various national and international conferences. Recognized for his outstanding contributions, Gaurav was awarded the Employee of the Year 2022-2023 by the Forest Survey of India, Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
UDDIPTA NATH
GHG AUDITOR /TECHNICAL EXPERT
Uddipta is a Chemical Engineer and has specialization in Renewable Energy Technology. He holds M.Tech in Energy Technology from Tezpur Central University, India and a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from DSCE, Bangalore. He worked as a Field Engineer in polypropylene production unit of Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited (BCPL). His skills include Biochar/ Activated Carbon production from biomass and residues through thermochemical conversion. Operating knowledge on FTIR Spectroscopy, BET Analyser, pH meter, etc. His expertise includes Biogas (Bio Methane) production through anaerobic digestion using a biogas digester (Bio Reactor); Waste to Energy & Waste Water Treatment.