Laura Reynolds

Laura Reynolds is a biologist with over 20 years’ experience working in and protecting Florida’s ecosystems. Former director of the Tropical Audubon Society she helps nonprofits, elected leaders and municipalities bring environmental issues into the forefront and bridge the gap between science and policy to better protect Florida’s ecosystems and resources. Laura Reynolds is Founder of Conservation Concepts, LLC, a small consulting and advocacy firm dedicated to helping people and organizations have a voice on complex environmental issues at the state and local level to improve water and land use decision making, environmental sustainability and enrich Florida’s quality of life and the future of our communities.

Laura received a B.S. in Marine Biology & Environmental Science in 1999 and began graduate work and several research projects at the University of Miami and Florida International University from 2000-

2006. During that time Laura began to realize the great disconnect between the science and environmental policy in the state of Florida. She left academia to help bridge the gap between science and policy and worked toward strategies that encouraged economic growth while simultaneously ensuring environmental resiliency with the Audubon Society and then later Conservation Concepts.

Starting in 2022 she returned to FIU to continue graduate studies and lead the effort to streamline public data access by managing the Biscayne Bay and Reef Observation, Interpretation, and Prediction System (BBROIPS) project for the University. She has also worked as part of the Seagrass ecosystem and costal fisheries research labs to document and map 40 years of seagrass change since 2019 and to identify hotspots of pollution impacting that loss. Laura’s goal is to find ways to better manage and protect segrasses in Biscayne Bay.