We can drastically cut aviation's climate impact.

About

Contrails.org is a non-profit applied research organization dedicated to reducing aviation's climate impact through contrail management.

Photograph of an airplane flying through the sky with no contrails behind it

What is Contrails.org?

Contrails.org brings together leading scientists, technologists, and industry experts to accelerate the scientific research, technological innovations and operational improvements needed to make contrail management a practical reality. We envision a world where intelligent route planning and management eliminates climate warming contrails with near-zero cost.

Our Work is focused across three interconnected areas:

Science: Support strategic research to better model, observe, and measure contrails to improve understanding and de-risk uncertainties.

Technology: Develop open models, tools, and protocols to expand access to contrail resources and build common frameworks for wider deployment.

Implementation: Deploy real-world trials to demonstrate operational feasibility and effectiveness, and resolve system-level hurdles to build pathways for implementation at scale.

Through these efforts, Contrails.org aims to galvanize action towards contrail management. By doing so together, we can create a rapid, scalable and affordable pathway to reduce a significant source of global heating.

Our Team

Contrails.org is a team of scientists, engineers, and industry experts based in the US and UK.

Marc Shapiro

Executive Director

Prof. Marc Stettler

Chief Scientist

Paul Luning

Chief Operating Officer

Tristan Abbott

Research Scientist

Zeb Engberg

Research Scientist

Puja Hazlehurst

Operations & Programme Manager

Paul Hodgson

Technical Fellow

Jonathan Itcovitz

Affiliated Research Scientist

Stephen Lau

Research Scientist

Nick Masson

Director, Engineering

Eóghain Mitchison

Director, External Strategy

Andrew Palmer

Software Engineer

Joffrey Peters

Research Software Engineer

Tyler Robarge

Director, Trials

Roger Teoh

Affiliated Research Scientist

Debbie Thomas

Research Pilot

Steph Williams

Research Scientist

Key Advisors

Ken Caldeira

Senior Scientist, Gates Ventures

John Platt

Head of Applied Science, Google Research

David Victor

Distinguished Professor of Innovation and Public Policy, UCSD

Our organizations

Contrails.org operates through two charitable organizations that share one mission.

In the United States, Contrails Science & Technology Inc., doing business as Contrails.org, is a Vermont nonprofit corporation and a tax-exempt public charity under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (EIN 41-5013911). Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

In the United Kingdom, Contrails.org (UK) Limited is a registered charity in England and Wales (charity no. 1220098) and a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (company no. 16582696). Registered office: Lake House, Market Hill, Royston, Hertfordshire SG8 9JN.

US Board of Directors

Annie Petsonk

US Board Chair

Ian McKay

US Board Member

Marc Shapiro

US Board Member

UK Trustee Directors

Alyssa Gilbert

UK Trustee

Tim Johnson

UK Trustee

Marc Shapiro

UK Trustee

Marc Stettler

UK Trustee

Supported By

Contrails.org was founded at Orca Sciences and incubated by Breakthrough Energy.

Our work is funded through a combination of government and philanthropic support.

Funding

Funding

We are part of a multi-disciplinary network of organizations collaborating on contrail management.

Technology

Technology

Operations

Operations

See what we're building

We are building open tools and methods to advance a roadmap for contrail avoidance across the aviation industry. Learn more about Our Work, or explore the tools on GitHub.

See the tools in action on the Contrails API, Contrails Map and the Impact Explorer.

Work with us

Come join the team at Contrails.org to develop the science, tools, and evidence making contrail avoidance a practical reality.

Current openings