User:Sprinklebob/Lucy Hutyra

Lucy Hutyra (born 1976) is a professor of earth & environment at Boston University where she is also the codirector of the University’s Urban Climate Initiative and an associate director of the Graduate Program in Urban Biogeoscience and Environmental Health. Hutyra’s research primarily focuses on the carbon cycle as it pertains to urban environments. She received a Ph. D. in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Harvard University and a B.S in Forestry from the University of Washington. Hutyra currently works on projects devoted to monitoring greenhouse gas in urban spaces, improving models for estimating emissions, and research related to how vegetation and human land usage affects the cycle of carbon transfer between the atmosphere and biosphere.

Early life and education
Lucy Hutyra is the daughter of immigrants and was the first in her family to attend college. As the only daughter in her family, she was urged by her parents to pursue an education. Hutyra graduated from the University of Washington in 1998 with a B.S in Forest Ecology and Management. She went on to receive a Ph. D. in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Harvard University in 2007. While at Harvard, Hutyra worked as a research technician where she did field work focused on carbon exchange in forest ecosystems. During this period, Hutyra worked in areas around the world such as Canada, Brazil, and Bhutan. Hutyra continued her work in Brazil’s Tapajós National Forest during her Ph. D. for her thesis titled "Carbon and Water Exchange in Amazonian Rain Forests."

Career and research
After graduating, Lucy Hutyra worked as a Research Scientist at Washington University from 2007-2009. In 2009, she became Assistant Professor of Earth and Environment at Boston University where she is now a full time Professor in the same role. At Boston University, she is the director of the Hutyra Research Lab which focuses on carbon exchange in forest ecosystems and urban spaces. She has also worked as an associate in the Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences at Harvard University since 2016. Hutyra is the codirector of BU's Urban Climate Initiative, an associate director for the BU URBAN interdisciplinary doctoral program and an associate director of the Graduate Program in Urban Biogeoscience and Environmental Health, funded by the National Science Foundation.

Lucy Hutyra’s research focuses on the exchange of carbon between the atmosphere and biosphere within cities. She currently works with NASA Earth science data to further develop an understanding of how vegetation and land usage affects the cycle of carbon transfer in urban spaces. Hutyra's work is primarily focused on developing systems for measuring and modeling greenhouse gas emissions in these urban areas to help create data that can be used by cities to implement effective policies in response to their CO2 levels. Hutyra and fellow colleague Conor Gately are developing a tool called Anthropogenic Carbon Emissions System, funded by NASA’s Carbon Monitoring System, that expands upon Hutyra's work in emissions modeling for cities. ACES provides a more localized look at CO2 levels, creating finely tuned maps of carbon dioxide emissions within cities in the Northeast, helping to further aid in effective action against high emissions in urbanized areas.

Notable publications

 * Rao, Preeti, Lucy Hutyra, Steve Raciti, and Pamela Templer. 2013. “Atmospheric Nitrogen Inputs and Losses along an Urbanization Gradient from Boston to Harvard Forest, MA.” Biogeochemistry 121 (May). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-013-9861-1.
 * Rao, Preeti, Lucy Hutyra, Steve Raciti, and Adrien Finzi. 2013. “Field and Remotely Sensed Measures of Soil and Vegetation Carbon and Nitrogen across an Urbanization Gradient in the Boston Metropolitan Area.” Urban Ecosystems 16 (January). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-013-0291-6.
 * Ivanov, Valeriy, Lucy Hutyra, Steven Wofsy, J. Munger, Scott Saleska, Raimundo Oliveira Junior, and Plínio Camargo. 2012. “Root Niche Separation Can Explain Avoidance of Seasonal Drought Stress and Vulnerability of Overstory Trees to Extended Drought in a Mature Amazonian Forest.” Water Resources Research 48 (December). https://doi.org/10.1029/2012wr011972.
 * Briber, Brittain, Lucy Hutyra, Allison Dunn, Steve Raciti, and J. Munger. 2013. “Variations in Atmospheric CO2 Mixing Ratios across a Boston, MA Urban to Rural Gradient.” Land, July, 304–27. https://doi.org/10.3390/land2030304.
 * Seto, Karen, Burak Güneralp, and Lucy Hutyra. 2012. “Global Forecasts of Urban Expansion to 2030 and Direct Impacts on Biodiversity and Carbon Pools.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109 (September): 16083–88. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1211658109.

Awards and accolades

 * National Science Foundation CAREER award (2012)
 * National Academy of Sciences Kavli Fellow (2016)
 * Harvard University Charles Bullard Fellowship (2016-2017)
 * NASA Federal Advisory Committee on Earth Sciences (2017-Present)
 * Boston University Dean’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Education (2022)