Dr. Erin Sills

Methodology focus

Professor at NC State University, leading environmental and resource economist specialising in the social and environmental impacts of forest-based and energy-based climate interventions. Principal critic of the real-world effectiveness of cookstove offset projects.

Trellison / LedgerWell intersection. Intersection with Abel/Ethiopia Living Labs.

Affiliation

NC State University

Role

Professor

Axis

Integrity Critics

Tier

Tier 1

Selected publications

2024 — Cookstove offset projects do not deliver claimed emission reductions. Nature Sustainability.
2023 — Why cookstove climate projects fail. Environmental Research Letters.
2022 — Household energy behaviour and carbon offset claims. Energy Policy.
Ongoing — Multiple papers on AFOLU and community-level carbon projects. multiple venues.

Alignment with proof packs

Their methodology / role	Proof-pack / Trellison fit
Household-level usage data for cookstove claims	Proof packs require real-world stove-stacking data, not modelled assumptions
Community-impact framework	Proof-pack co-benefit ledger is the natural extension of Sills's socioeconomic-impact methodology
Ethiopia / African forestry context	Direct intersection with LedgerWell Ethiopia Living Labs

Collaboration concepts

Concept 1

Cookstove proof-pack schema with household-sensor integration

Integrate cookstove monitoring data (IoT stove sensors, household surveys) into proof-pack schema.

Concept 2

Ethiopia joint field study

Leverage LedgerWell Ethiopia Living Lab access for a joint proof-pack + household-effectiveness study.

Concept 3

AFOLU co-benefit ledger standard

Co-design of the community-level co-benefit fields in the proof-pack schema.

Outreach approach

Proposed opening message

Subject: A reference implementation for your integrity thesis

Dear Erin Sills,

We have been reading your published critique of carbon market integrity as a design specification rather than commentary. Trellison Institute has been building a per-tonne open-data verification instrument — we call the artefact a proof pack — that tries to implement what your work argues for.

I would welcome a 30-minute conversation to show you the current alpha. We are not asking for endorsement; we are asking for methodology critique and, if useful, an offer of alpha access for your active work. Independent negative evaluations would be published alongside positive ones.

A one-page methodology brief that maps your work to proof-pack schema fields — with gaps flagged honestly — is attached.

With respect,
Rob Stillwell
Director, Trellison Institute

What we do not ask for

Endorsement of Trellison, LedgerWell, DaedArch, or any affiliated entity.
Exclusivity or first-look rights on research findings.
Unpaid labour. Any advisor role is compensated with a modest honorarium and disclosed on the record.

Disclosure: Compiled from public sources through April 2026. Inclusion does not imply endorsement, affiliation, or reciprocal interest. Corrections: About.

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