Laura Francis: Inspiring Future Generations

A love of nature, coupled with a deep-rooted sense of responsibility for our shared world, have been defining factors in Laura Francis' life.

It all started with a class trip to Santa Cruz Island when she was 11 years old that sparked Laura's fascination with the natural world, especially ocean life. That fascination eventually led Laura to pursue a degree in Zoology at UC Berkeley, followed by a Masters in Marine Biology at UC Santa Barbara.

Throughout her career, Laura has dived down 9,000 to the seafloor in a manned submersible and swam with blue whales, studied deep sea crabs at hydrothermal vents, and developed national education strategies around topics like ocean acidification. She has shared her knowledge and passion with numerous children as an educator in environmental science and marine biology for the National Park Service and the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary.

Her abiding passion for nature was what led Laura to CEC, first as a supporter and eventually as a board member. During her time on CEC's Board of Directors, Laura played an active role in helping CEC achieve its mission to take bold and purposeful action to solve the climate crisis and nurture a resilient Central Coast. "CEC is behind all of the wonderful things I love about living in Santa Barbara," says Laura.

She is particularly concerned with the largely invisible, but highly destructive, effects of ocean acidification, which is a result of the ocean absorbing excess carbon released from burning fossil fuels. Laura is a believer in practicing what one preaches; she has a solar roof on her home feeding a battery storage system, she rides an electric bicycle, and she avoids single-use plastics.

In addition to CEC, Laura has been active with nonprofits such as Rachel's Network (named after pathbreaking environmentalist Rachel Carson), an organization with a mission to "catalyze our collective power for a healthy, thriving world" as well as the Santa Barbara's Women's Fund.

Not surprisingly, Laura has also imbued her son, Jayden, with the same sense of responsibility toward the natural world and wants to safeguard a livable world for him and future generations. Laura has upheld her personal convictions and commitment to environmental advocacy by establishing a very generous legacy gift to CEC through a donor-advised fund designation. A donor-advised fund is like a charitable investment account where a person can contribute cash, securities, or other assets that generally make them eligible to take an immediate tax deduction.

"Having a life purpose has been grounding for me and feels especially meaningful during this tumultuous time on our planet," says Laura. "I feel that my purpose is to engage with projects and promote initiatives that help create a healthy, sustainable ocean and environment."