Lucy Hutyra: Analyzing Human Land Use to Fight Climate Change

BU Today featured CISE Affiliate Professor Lucy Hutyra (CAS Earth and Environment) in an article about BU professors fighting climate change through their research. Hutyra, along with the 12 other professors, uses a variety of resources, methods, and focuses to identify how marginalized communities are more at risk to feel the effects of climate change. 

Hutyra’s research analyzes how human’s use of natural vegetation and land influence affect the planet’s ability to absorb and release carbon, and how this affects the overall amount of carbon in the atmosphere. As the colead of BU’s Urban Climate Initiative and interim faculty director of BU’s Initiative on Cities, Hutyra is most interested in cities as they result in the highest concentration of greenhouse gas emissions.

Hutyra’s most recent paper, “Influence of landscape management practices on Urban Greenhouse Gas Budgets”, was published in Carbon Balance and Management. The paper evaluated how the management of BU’s three urban campuses influenced carbon levels, and determined specific landscaping practices that decreased carbon emissions.

Read the full article from BU Today here.