Tuesday October 6, 2026
Inside Climate News —
After years trudging through marshes around San Francisco Bay studying conservation practices, coastal ecologist Megan Kelso realized that one of the largest determinants of wetland health may not be an invasive species lurking with her among the sea grasses, but decisions made miles away in the executive suites of insurance companies.
Wetlands absorb massive volumes of carbon and are vital to combating climate change, Kelso said, and she saw her early field work as the most effective way to keep them healthy.
It wasn’t until she started working alongside Mike Beck, director of University of California Santa Cruz’s coastal resilience program, and was offered a grant to research how insurance can promote similar habitat restoration projects, that she had her “aha” moment.
“I was thinking, maybe there’s a way to align this huge sector of insurance with nature and conservation in a way that could have a bigger impact than what I was doing before,” Kelso said.