Liz Luck is a Forest Carbon Analyst working on the Forest and Agriculture team. Liz began studying environmental science due to her interest in animal agriculture and its environmental implications. Through her studies, she quickly developed an interest in all of the various niches within environmental science at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and her love for nature grew in unexpected ways.
Her passion for sustainable agriculture led her to continue to study agroecology and ultimately complete her Master’s research on vineyard soil carbon sequestration. Throughout her undergraduate and graduate years, she worked on a research project with Cal Fire that looked at the carbon impact of forest fuel treatments and took any forestry classes that fit into her schedule. This experience ultimately brought her to SIG in 2023, where she now works on SIG’s Forest Carbon Analysis Tool (FCAT), which can identify the GHG mitigation potentials of fuel treatments. With the FCAT tool, Liz has worked on evaluating GHG emissions from the Mosquito Fire, delayed post-fire emissions, and the resulting health impacts. She has also used the FCAT tool to assess reduced emissions from megafires.
Liz “walking to the nose” while surfing in California
Liz has always been lucky enough to have lived close to the California coast, as she grew up in Manhattan Beach, attended school in San Luis Obispo, and currently resides in North County, San Diego. She has seized the opportunity by going to the beach and surfing whenever possible. Liz has loved to surf since she was eleven years old. Surfing has led to many trips up and down the coast of California with friends. She loves the mindful time in nature and the physical challenge that surfing provides. She also enjoys other hobbies like yoga and weight lifting and is currently training for the LA marathon.
Liz surfing in Manhattan Beach, California