Issue No. 3: Who is SimplexDNA?

Today we introduce our Lab Leader and Chief of Operations:

Dr. Elvira Mächler!

Elvira is a molecular ecologist with extensive know-how in aquatic environments gained during her PhD at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag). She always wanted to become a taxonomist with the ability to identify species by their morphological features. However, during her master thesis in 2013 she worked for the first time with environmental DNA and was fascinated by the opportunity this novel application brings and immersed herself into molecular methods.

In her research interests, she was always driven by the practical application of her scientific knowledge which led her now to the path of entrepreneurship. At SimplexDNA, Elvira uses her profound experience in field, experimental, and laboratory work to plan and execute projects with customers and partners.

The pursuit of sustainability and social impact are the main drivers for her motivation. She believes that SimplexDNA can contribute to the conservation of the compelling biodiversity which she enjoys much in her free time spent outdoors.

SimplexDNA partnering with The Climate Collective

SimplexDNA is proud to announce a new phase of our partnership with the Climate Collective. Thanks to a Builder Grant, SimplexDNA is ready to further develop and review our "Proof-of-Life" protocol with the ReFi community

https://climatecollective.org

Spotlight: Open Forest Protocol

On July 25, 2022, our friends at Open Forest Protocol (OFP) launched their protocol for forest monitoring: open-MRV (see their post on Linkedin). Significantly, it’s the world's first decentralized web3-native MRV (Measurement, Reporting & Validation protocol), opening the door to carbon financing for forest projects of any size and budget.

https://www.openforestprotocol.org/

The protocol is built around a community of projects, validators and contributors. Projects are reforestation and forestry efforts across the world - anyone is able to join and can start to share data on their actions and progress. A showcase project is a collaboration with Ivory Coast, where 5067 hectares of degraded forest land shall be restored. The validators consist of a large group of monitoring companies, mostly using remote sensing. Their tools are able to verify measurements provided by the OFP projects. To store this information, OFP makes use of the NEAR blockchain, a carbon neutral layer 1 protocol. Lastly, a group of contributors, consisting of funding partners, provide the necessary investment and support to make their vision of restoration in Ivory Coast a reality.

Down the road, Open Forest Protocol’s governance will be based around the OPN token, which can be used by validators to vote on project data and earn their fees; this part will be launched later this year. Following that, OPN tokens will also be used to govern the OFP through the OFP DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization). Before establishing the DAO, OFP will at first be structured in a hybrid fashion. The non-profit Open Forest Foundation will govern the protocol, while Open Forest Protocol, the company, will manage operations. Crucially, anyone can develop layer 3 solutions on top of OFP. This will, in the future, allow carbon financing through the creation of OCC (Open Carbon Credits) based upon the differential measurement of carbon sequestration.

To visualize the above, the OFP process is depicted in the image below. It is unique in that it generates reliable data on carbon sequestration in a completely decentralized fashion.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FGHk2L8XoAAWVWd.jpg:large

Excitingly, the open-MRV protocol goes beyond carbon sequestration and is open to integrate ecosystem health, biodiversity and other natural assets. At SimplexDNA, we are extremely impressed by the network of projects and validators that OFP have built. With the huge progress OFP has already made in the dMRV space we can’t wait to see and hear more about the impact that OFP will make in the coming years.

Learn more about OFP directly from their founders speaking on ReFi DAO’s podcast. You may also check out their whitepaper here.