Staff
Erin Coutts (she/her) | Executive Director
Erin Coutts is the Executive Director of the Los Angeles Regional Collaborative for Climate Action and Sustainability (LARC). Housed at UCLA, LARC is a network of local governments, regional agencies, non-profit organizations, businesses, utilities, and academics working together to advance climate mitigation and adaptation efforts in the LA region. Erin is focused on convening local and regional climate leaders to help them to maximize limited resources and determine the best courses of action for the region.
Before moving to LA in 2018, she worked at Tufts University, where she also completed a master’s degree in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning. She helped the City of Cambridge earn a five-star rating through the STAR Communities comprehensive sustainability assessment. She is thrilled to continue working with cities to prepare the LA region for the impacts of climate change. You can reach her at ecoutts@ucla.edu.
Lynn Hur (she/her) | Communications Assistant
Lynn Hur graduated Summa Cum Laude from UCLA in June 2022. She began her work with LARC while completing her senior capstone and continued on as a Research and Communications Intern after graduation. Her work with LARC includes content development and community outreach for LARC’s 2022 & 2023 Extreme Heat Campaign. Her passions lie in creating sustainable, intergenerational, equitable, and creative public spaces with BIPOC and immigrant communities.
Mason Lehman (he/they) | Legislative and Communication Assistant
Mason is a fourth year studying Environmental Science at UCLA, with a background in research and activism. Mason’s previous experience includes assessing equity, diversity, and inclusion in sustainability through UCLA’s Sustainability Action Research Program and interning as an environmental planner in Los Angeles. Mason has been with LARC for three years and supports network meetings, maintains the 2023 Legislative Tracker hosted by the Alliance of Regional Collaboratives for Climate Adaptation (ARCCA), and facilitates behind-the-scenes logistics. Mason will be graduating in June of 2024 and is seeking to continue as an environmental planner with an focus on resiliency and sustainability. View all of Mason’s experiences on his LinkedIn Profile.
Bemmy Granados (Maharramli) (she/her) | Policy Advisor
Since the spring of 2022, Bemmy has advised and collaborated on LARC’s community-engaged research. Her work includes facilitating and mentoring student research and writing related to the LARC Extreme Heat Resilience Campaign. She also contributes to strategic planning and fundraising efforts for the collaborative’s programs and projects. In addition to her work with work with IOES’ LARC, she is the Director of Innovation in Landscape Management at EcoAgriculture Partners, where she facilitates a program of action research and capacity strengthening that conceives and implements transformative programs that promote multifunctional landscapes characterized by sustainable agriculture, biodiversity conservation, and climate resilience.
Stephanie Pincetl (she/her) | Faculty Director
Stephanie Pincetl is a Professor at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and Founding Director of the California Center for Sustainable Communities at UCLA. Dr. Pincetl conducts research on environmental policies and governance and analyzes how institutional rules construct how natural resources and energy are used to support human activities. She is expert in bringing together interdisciplinary teams of researchers across the biophysical and engineering sciences with the social sciences to address problems of complex urban systems and environmental management. Pincetl is the Faculty Director of the Los Angeles Regional Collaborative for Climate Action and Sustainability (LARC). She was instrumental in making the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA its institutional home.
Yua Watanabe (she/her) | Graphic Designer
Yua is a fourth-year theater major, design and production emphasis at UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television. She will complete her Bachelor of Arts in spring of 2024. Yua Watanabe is the Graphic Designer for the Sustainable LA Grand Challenge (SLA GC). She creates accessible graphics to better translate SLA GC’s informational material and research to the public. Her work primarily focuses on producing design elements for the project’s digital content located on its website, social media, and other promotional platforms. During her time outside of SLA GC, she creates graphic designs for student clubs on campus and the Undergraduate Student Association Council Facilities Commission — the student office focusing on developing sustainability and accessibility implementation on campus. Yua’s work with LARC includes creating graphics and presenting visual content for LARC’s Extreme Heat Campaign.
LARC College Corps Fellows
Anita Theng (she/her) | Fellow
Anita is a third year majoring in psychology and minoring in public health at UCLA. Anita joined LARC in Fall 2023, and her work includes assessing and updating LARC’s 2023 Extreme Heat Campaign. She has a background in campaign work and an interest in climate action and research. Anita hopes to explore careers in public health, specifically environmental and community health sciences.
Melisa Lima-Preciado (she/her) | Fellow
Melisa Lima-Preciado is a second-year at UCLA majoring in Political Science and Public Affairs. She is a fellow at LARC UCLA College Corps Fellow with a focus in climate change action. She believes in the critical importance of climate change and its need for advocacy for the greater good of our environment and community through adaptation and mitigation of climate change.
LARC Leadership Council
Jacki Bacharach, South Bay Cities COG
Paul Backstorm, LA Metro
Steve Baule, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Office of Sustainability
Howard Choy, General Manager, Office of Sustainability, County of Los Angeles
Ignacio Fernandez, Senior Climate Policy Advisor, Southern California Edison
Gary Gero, Chief Sustainability Officer, County of Los Angeles
Natalie Hernandez, Climate Resolve
Beth Jines, City of Los Angeles
Jacob Lieb, Sustainability Policy Manager, LA Metro
Pam O’Connor, LA Metro Board Member/Santa Monica City Council
Jonathan Parfrey, Climate Resolve
Elizabeth Rhoades, PhD, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health
Adam Smith, Senior Climate Policy Advisor, Southern California Edison
And many others who have supported LARC since its inception in 2009.