January 29, 2025
The New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources (NMBGMR) at New Mexico Tech will present the 2025 Earth Science Achievement Award for Public Service and Public Policy to New Mexico State Forester Laura McCarthy. A public servant who has advanced the role of earth science in public policy, McCarthy will receive the award on Feb. 17 at noon during a ceremony at the New Mexico State Capitol rotunda in conjunction with Earth Science/New Mexico Tech Day.
As State Forester, McCarthy is responsible for forest management on 43 million acres of state and private lands, including wildfire prevention and response, forest health improvement, reforestation, watershed health, and climate change adaptation. Under her leadership, the State Forestry Division has doubled in size, modernized its business systems, and taken on the challenges of postfire recovery and reforestation of burned areas with the year 2100 climate in mind. She is committed to an ecosystem-based approach to forest health, drawing on her decades of experience as a forester, wildland firefighter, and policy advisor.
“We’re very pleased to honor Laura with this award,” said NMBGMR Director and State Geologist Dr. Mike Timmons. “It recognizes her many years of work and leadership advocating for science in decision-making and policy, especially in watershed science and protection in New Mexico.”
Before being appointed State Forester in 2019, McCarthy worked for more than two decades in advocacy and policy development in New Mexico. As associate state director of The Nature Conservancy’s New Mexico Field Office, she led the Rio Grande Water Fund, a public-private partnership to restore 600,000 acres of at-risk forests to protect watersheds that supply water for one million New Mexicans. She also advocated for federal fire and forest restoration policies, working closely with Senators Jeff Bingaman and Pete Domenici to create the Collaborative Forest Landscape Conservation Program in 2009.
As associate director of the Santa Fe-based Forest Stewards Guild, she managed community-based forestry projects, working with diverse stakeholders while making the case for ecology as the foundation of sustainable forestry. McCarthy began her career at the United States Forest Service as a forestry technician, wildland firefighter, and staff member of the Northern Forest Lands Study, one of the nation’s first cross-boundary ecosystem management policy initiatives. She earned a BA in government and legal affairs from Bowdoin College (graduating cum laude) and a Master of Forestry degree from Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
Over her years of service to the state of New Mexico, both as a private citizen and State Forester, she has earned numerous awards, including New Mexico Environmental Leader of the Year in 2015, the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies Distinguished Alumna Award in 2017, and the Outstanding Service Award from the Society of American Foresters Southwest Division in 2018.
The New Mexico Bureau of Geology will present the Earth Science Achievement Award to McCarthy in cooperation with the state Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department. New Mexico Tech academic and research divisions and earth science-focused state, federal, and private sector organizations will staff tables in the rotunda from 9 AM to 3 PM. The public is invited to visit the New Mexico State Capitol rotunda (aka Roundhouse) and attend the awards ceremony.