Team
Julien Gastaldi
CEO
Julien Gastaldi has 15 years' experience working on Climate Change, Waste Management, Pollution Pricing, Carbon Markets, Land Management and Community Development. He has an acute sense of social justice and is an advocate for a 'Just Transition' to a low-carbon economy. Julien works through building loyal partnerships to redirect climate finance towards the realisation of local social, economic and environmental benefits. He also brings connections to international carbon markets in Europe and the South Pacific to its local governments, indigenous groups, farmers, and corporate clients. He is the chair of national carbon division of the Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia (WMRR), and holds both a Masters of Civil Engineering (Environmental Management / Solid Waste Management) from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and an Ecole Polytechnique’s Masters of Management, Science & Environmental Physics (Climate Change Dynamics).
Robin Beatty
COO
Robin Beatty has 20 years professional fire management experience in diverse natural environments and socio-economic systems in the fire prone settings of southern Africa, Australia and Latin America. He is the Managing Director of 321Fire, a specialist fire management company focusing on building the capacity of people and governments to develop and implement integrated fire management strategies. Advising, training and skills transfer are amongst 321Fire’s key services to support the use of fire as a land management tool at landscape scales. Robin promotes innovative Community-Based Fire Management (CBFiM) initiatives in protected areas and communal lands to integrate traditional fire management knowledge into contemporary fire management frameworks. His professional qualifications, including a BSc (Zoology) and MSc (Tropical Environmental Management), provide a sound understanding of ecosystem functioning and management.
Christiaan Smit
BD & Stakeholder Lead
Christiaan leads Maki Planet Systems' new business development across Southern Africa. He has nearly 15 years of experience in the agriculture and forestry sectors, working closely with government departments and establishing industry working groups and focusing on strategic partnerships, business development, project management, and innovative solutions, with a strong emphasis on sustainability. He holds a BSc. in Forestry: Wood Products Science, and a MSc. in Forestry: Wood Products Science with a focus on biomass combustion from Stellenbosch University. Additional qualifications include an Honors Degree in Environmental Management from University of South Africa and an MBA from the University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science with a focus on African trade and impact investment.
Robin Gonzalez
Head of Advisory Services
Robin leads the Advisory Services function at Maki Planet Systems. Delivering a comprehensive approach to carbon project development, he tackles abatement projects across waste, vegetation, fire management and energy efficiency, considering environmental, social, technical, and financial aspects to achieve positive environmental outcomes. Robin's expertise spans the entire project lifecycle, from origination and feasibility to project registration, monitoring, reporting, and management of project audits and ACCU claim and delivery. His work portfolio includes grant application and project management, the establishment of Nature Refuge areas, and delivery of consulting jobs covering the areas of carbon project advice and technical modelling. Robin holds a Bachelor in Chemical Engineering, Masters degrees in Sustainability & Environmental Engineering, Business Administration, and Operations Management. He plays a pivotal role in driving Maki Planet Systems’ project portfolio forward.
Marcelo Santana
Fire Operations Lead
An instructor of Brazilian fire brigades, Marcelo Santana is an environmental manager and a specialist in the discipline of integrated fire management. Marcelo has deep expertise in Brazilian cultural keystones, having recently contributed to an academic study of progress in fire ecology in subtropical and tropical ecosystems which found wildfires caused significantly more damage to culturally important plant species in central Brazil compared with prescribed burns. Marcelo’s career has seen him visit many places around the world, including the Northern Territory in Australia, to share his specialist knowledge.