Growing resiliency in the American West
BiomeWest is a boutique consultancy pairing diverse climate-smart agriculture with energy policy and stakeholder engagement expertise, helping organizations navigate the technical and regional complexity of land & resource use, agriculture, and energy transition in the American West.
Nature-Based Solutions
Develop human-rights-informed nature-based interventions that build ecological and economic resilience, including carbon sequestration, water conservation, biodiversity restoration, and associated credit programs.
Regenerative Agriculture and Horticulture
Plan farmland transitions to regenerative and climate smart agriculture. Build sustainable horticulture programs that integrate native and water-wise plants and practices.
Stakeholder & Community Engagement
Organize stakeholder and community feedback processes, specifically around energy development, land use, and climate planning. Facilitate equitable, transparent stakeholder engagements including meetings, workshops, and dialogues.
Solutions Impact & Evaluation
Lead technical assessments, frameworks and evaluation systems that track whether energy and land-use projects are actually delivering on 1) environmental commitments including climate impacts, and 2) human commitments including resiliency, sustainability, and community commitments.
Services
BiomeWest helps organizations facing decisions where environmental realities and human dynamics collide. We bring both lenses to one table instead of forcing you to hire two firms. Areas we help include:
Land use planning
Development siting
Agricultural transition
Reach out to us to see how can help you at
c.hendrickson@biome-west.com
Contact
BiomeWest was founded by Christopher and Kajsa Hendrickson, who bring complementary expertise to the sustainability challenges facing the American West. Christopher's background in plant molecular biology informs his work in climate-smart agriculture, nature-based solutions, and carbon programs. Kajsa's background in state and federal energy programs and policy, community benefits, and stakeholder engagement informs her work building community trust and equitable process into energy and land-use projects. Together, they help organizations address the technical and social dimensions of resilience as a single, integrated challenge.
The West's biggest sustainability challenges, be they energy transition, agricultural resilience, or land stewardship, don't fail for lack of good science or public support. They fail when the two aren't brought together. BiomeWest exists to close the gap between technical sustainability solutions and the stakeholder processes that determine whether they succeed. We combine rigorous scientific analysis, in climate-smart agriculture, nature-based solutions, and applied ecology, with equitable, structured stakeholder engagement to help energy developers, agricultural organizations, and public agencies build projects that are both scientifically sound and durable in practice.
Kajsa
Kajsa Hendrickson is a sustainability consultant and bridge builder from Logan, Utah. Kajsa’s expertise is in the Just Energy Transition having worked with the Center for Sustainable Energy’s Solar on Multifamily Affordable Housing (SOMAH) program and the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Utility of the Future initiative. She works towards a future that works with and for people and planet. Her experience spans state, federal, and international work, from San Diego and Washington D.C., to Yangling, China and Bangkok, Thailand. Her experience includes energy and technology policy including integrated resource planning and carbon management. She is an experienced facilitator, having led dialogues between companies, utilities, NGOs, and communities over the past 6 years. She now works with energy developers to build stakeholder engagement and impact evaluation programs that strengthen community trust while accelerating the energy transition.
About
Chris
Christopher Hendrickson is a plant biologist and technology leader working at the intersection of crop physiology, agTech, and nature-based innovation. He currently serves as Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder of Atavus, Inc., developing new food and feed crop solutions, following senior R&D leadership roles at Aqua-Yield (Sandy, UT) and a faculty appointment at National University (San Diego, CA) researching genomic resources in xeric, gypsum-endemic native grass species. His technical background spans climate-adapted crop systems, forage and cover crop development, high-efficiency and carbon-neutral crop inputs, and synthetic biology, built on a foundation in physiogenomics from his doctoral research on fruit ripening at Washington State University. He has extensive experience in venture and intellectual property development, grant authorship and management and leadership.
“The truth is: the natural world is changing. And we are totally dependent on that world. It provides our food, water and air. It is the most precious thing we have and we need to defend it.”
— David Attenborough