Laura is the Director of Partnerships for Global Nature Watch, a breakthrough monitoring system for the world's land and nature-based carbon. Laura oversees strategic partnerships with external organizations and key donors. Previously, Laura was the Chief of Party for the Forest Data Partnership, a coalition with WRI, Google, Unilever, NASA-Servir, Spatial Informatics Group, and FAO, to build alignment around the data solutions needed to support global and regional efforts to end commodity driven deforestation. Prior to joining WRI, Laura worked in restoration at the Denver Botanic Gardens and conducted postdoctoral research on restoring degraded forests in New South Wales, Australia.

Laura received a B.A. from Vassar College in 2004, completed a Fulbright fellowship in Madagascar in 2005, and completed her Ph.D. in 2011 from the University of California, Irvine.