Dr. Iara Lacher is a landscape ecologist with an interdisciplinary background in policy and environmental management, which she employs in applied conservation research for use in strategic planning and policy development. Her science can be used to identify priority conservation areas, inform best practices in land management, and to guide county, state, and national planning strategies. Her current work combines scenario planning and spatially explicit land use models to illustrate how different land use policies may impact biodiversity and ecosystem services. Dr. Lacher is also owner of Seven Bends Nursery, a native plant nursery with a mission to increase public access to native plant material and to educate the public on ecologically friendly gardening practices.