Claudia Lowd - CTO & Founder

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Claudia likes a challenge. A bit of a pioneer, she was the first woman hired for forestry fieldwork by the University of Maine Forestry Department back in 1977. After studying Forestry and Pulp and Paper Engineering, she was then the only woman in a sea of gray suits working in the paper industry. Over the course of her twenty year career, Claudia got to know the paper manufacturing process inside and out. Technical and scientific in her approach, she was always looking for ways to streamline the manufacturing process and was often on the production floor talking to the operators. Later, in her work with Clean Harbors, Claudia became the person mills called when they needed to do maintenance that required entire mill shutdowns and involved the proper disposal of hazardous waste. Claudia excelled at collaborating with a team to lead them through the intricate process so the work was done safely and on schedule.

As the paper industry began to collapse in the early 2000s, Claudia pivoted her focus to raising her three kids. During this time, her worldview began to shift and she found opportunities to learn about permaculture and green engineering practices, receiving funding for projects from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and collaborating with the Green Building Council of Maine. While working as an Energy Innovation Coordinator with the nonprofit, Maine Rural Partners, Claudia coordinated grants for farms across the state to improve their energy efficiency. After a career working in the paper industry, these experiences helped Claudia see the world differently and realize the impact our choices have on the environment around us.

Now, as the Lead Research Scientist and CFO at P3RD.EARTH, Claudia is pioneering products with cellulose and optimizing the production process so it is safer, cleaner, and more efficient. When P3RD.EARTH needed more technical know-how to secure funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Claudia went back to graduate school herself and deepened her scientific understanding. With the NSF funding secured, P3RD.EARTH has been able to take their ideas to the next level and Claudia is able to collaborate with researchers at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth as well as the University of Maine, Orono. Tenacious and committed to P3RD.EARTH mission to build a better world, Claudia has now devoted her life to making better packaging and transforming mills to become greener and more beautiful. If Claudia is not researching new mechanical forming machinery or working in her garden, she is out telling everyone that a world where our packaging waste is planet-healthy is not only possible, but a paramount solution for our oceans and our planet.