About

Turning data into value.

For nearly two decades we have worked at the nexus of data analysis and policy decision-making and product development for start-ups, government, and NGOs.
Carlos Silva

Founder

Carlos Silva

Founder & Principal

Carlos is a data science leader at the intersection of research, product & policy, and client & government engagement. He combines deep technical expertise with strong executive communication to define data strategy, deploy ML/AI algorithms, and embed analytics into core operations and products. He has led cross-functional teams encompassing research, product/engineering, and go-to-market/sales and has global experience in U.S., Latin America, and Africa, spanning the private sector, government/NGO, and basic research. He was most recently Head of R&D and Policy at a climate tech startup, leading a multidisciplinary team through company scaling and successful acquisition.

Background

Leadership & management

  • Head of R&D and Policy · Pachama

    2021–2025

    Led R&D, engineering, and product to turn satellite-based forest monitoring into four flagship customer products, and ran the proprietary models at scale — millions of hectares — to deliver for major corporate clients on a two-week turnaround. Advised the CEO quarterly on market requirements and set the R&D roadmap to meet them.

  • Manager, Forest Carbon Modeling · Bluesource

    2018

    Led the modeling behind carbon credit issuance under the California Air Resources Board and the American Carbon Registry.

Advisory

  • Consultant · Arova

    2026–present

    Geospatial data lead on a bankable-assets platform seeking to expose public infrastructure to capital markets, across both the backend data and the frontend experience.

  • Consultant · Isometric

    2021–2026

    Built the framework for quantifying and managing carbon-credit uncertainty, with a working reference implementation.

  • Fellow · Ministry of Planning & Development, Mozambique

    2009–2010

    Drafted medium-term fiscal plans and trained provincial officials in budget planning.

  • Research Analyst · Industrial Economics, Inc.

    2005–2007

    Legally mandated economic analysis of policy scenarios for the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Homeland Security, the National Park Service, and the EPA.

Data science & ML/AI

  • Head of R&D and Policy · Pachama

    2021–2025

    Lead or co-lead author on five production ML algorithms — preprocessing, training, inference, and validation on holdout data and pseudo-replicates — and on four Algorithm Technical Documents recording methods and measured performance.

  • Post-doctoral researcher · NASA GEDI mission

    2019–2021

    Delivered validation against airborne lidar to hit mission milestones, working with engineers at NASA Goddard, and built forest monitoring and growth forecasting systems for the states of Maryland and Delaware.

Education

  • Ph.D. Ecology & Evolutionary BiologyBrown University
  • M.P.A. Economics & Public PolicyPrinceton University
  • M.A. Geographical SciencesUniversity of Maryland
  • B.A. Political EconomyWilliams College

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