The vast majority of our CO2 emissions can be attributed to cities. The combination of large, concentrated greenhouse gas emissions and rapid urban growth make cities key elements of our climate problem, but cities offer the potential to serve as “first responders” for climate action. **Dr. Lucy Hutyra** explores several facets of the carbon cycle at the urban scale including the social drivers of fossil fuel emissions and the physical determinants of biological carbon flows. Photo: [Pixbay](https://pixabay.com/en/brigde-city-trees-travel-691466/ "")
**Dr. Lucy Hutyra** received her Ph.D. from Harvard University in 2007 and is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Earth & Environment at Boston University. Her current research interests center on characterization of the urban carbon cycle, including quantifying the effects of urbanization on vegetation structure and productivity, developing urban greenhouse gas monitoring systems, and refining fossil fuel emissions estimates. Hutyra is an investigator on several NASA and NSF research projects linking remote sensing, atmospheric observations, field measurements, and models to study the urban carbon cycle. She was the recipient of an NSF CAREER award in 2012, serves on the North American Carbon Program Scientific Steering Group, and has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles on various aspects of the carbon cycle.