Yi Zhao

About Yi Zhao

I’m a Senior Data Scientist with deep experience working across agriculture, forestry, and carbonremoval solutions. My work bridges AI, satellite remote sensing, and GIS to deliver scalable, science-backed solutions that accelerate nature-based carbon strategies.I’ve led cross-functional projects in both startup and private equity-backed environments—often defining the roadmap, building tools from scratch, and collaborating with stakeholders in product, engineering, and sales/marketing. Whether it is improving forest yield projections, streamlining afforestation screening, or building tools that cut manual labor, I design systems that unlock commercial value while staying true to the mission.I\'m especially proud of my ability to work independently in fast-paced environments, while staying grounded in the bigger picture: sustainability, innovation, and impact. Areas of focus:> Nature-based carbon removal (improved forest management + afforestation)> Remote sensing + AI> Data product strategy and cross-team collaboration> Startup and mission-driven innovationI\'m always open to thoughtful conversations—especially around using data science for climate solutions, spatial-temporal predictive modeling, or mission-aligned work. Let’s connect.

Experience

1. Senior Data Scientist

   Kimmeridge

   Jun 2024 — Present · New York, NY, US

   Chestnut Carbon | Forestry + Nature-Based Carbon Removal* Design and lead automation projects that reduced manual processing time by 70%, accelerating IFM project assessments and improving consistency across candidate evaluations.* Develop tools to identify and screen marginal croplands for afforestation, improving marketing efficiency and ROI analysis for new land acquisitions.* Conduct advanced modeling and simulations to enhance carbon yield projections, contributing to the accuracy of long-term commercial forecasts.* Collaborate across departments (sales, tech, forestry, product) to ensure alignment, improve survey workflows, and reduce bottlenecks in onboarding new forest owners.* Spearhead internal tooling initiatives—creating repeatable frameworks and documentation for scaling data science efforts within forestry and carbon initiatives.

Education

• Stanford University

  Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Food Security and Remote Sensing

  2011 — 2016

• University of Dayton

  B.S. Mathematics, Minor in Economics

  2008 — 2011

• University of Wisconsin-Madison

  Bachelor's degree, Undecided

  2007 — 2008