Lara is a biologist graduated from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and has a MSc. degree in Ecology and Evolution from the Federal University of Goiás. In her B.A., she attended classes at the University of East Anglia for one year, where she studied the effects of climate changes in British butterfly populations. During her master’s degree, she focused on the effects of climate change on the distribution of endangered plants in Brazil’s Cerrado and developed prioritization scenarios for the conservation of those species. Currently, Lara is a researcher at the CSRio and a research assistant at the International Institute for Sustainability (IIS). She has a special interest in research related to sustainable landscape management, forest management, rural development, participatory methods, citizen science, strengthening of productive chains, and low impact production systems (e.g. Agroforestry Systems).