Nurit Katz

Nurit Katz is an educator, sustainability professional, and urban ecologist who is dedicated to creating a more sustainable, resilient, and healthy region through cross-sector and cross-disciplinary collaboration. As Chief Sustainability Officer for UCLA, Nurit led the development of the university’s first comprehensive sustainability plan, award winning landscape plan and biodiversity commitment, and fosters collaboration across the leading public university to advance sustainability through education, research, operations, and community partnerships. For six years Ms. Katz also served as Executive Officer for Facilities Management.

Nurit has over 15 years of teaching experience and is an Instructor for the UCLA Extension Sustainability Certificate Program. She has also taught for the UCLA Institute of Environment and Sustainability and prior to UCLA taught in environmental and outdoor education through a range of programs including Americorps Garden Education, Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation, and a farm to school program. Nurit serves as the Outreach Coordinator for the Los Angeles Raptor Study, a community science based study of nesting raptors in LA, supported by Friends of Griffith Park, volunteers with the Ojai Raptor Center, and is the faculty advisor for the Bruin Birding Club.

Ms. Katz was appointed by Mayor Bass and serves as Commissioner on the Board of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), the largest public utility in the US. As Commissioner she led a major motion on biodiversity, access to nature, and nature-based solutions. She has served in a number of public sector and non-profit advisory capacities including on the LA 100 Advisory Group, Los Angeles County Climate Vulnerability Assessment Technical Advisory Committee and the Resilient Infrastructure Working Group for Resilient LA. She currently serves on the Biodiversity Expert Council for the City of Los Angeles, and the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Areas Steering Committee. Nurit is the co-chair of the LA28 Sustainability Working Group. She is also a member of the Technical Working Group for the Los Angeles River California Environmental Flow Framework (CEFF) Project.

Ms. Katz holds an MBA and a Masters in Public Policy from the UCLA, and a BA in Environmental Education from Humboldt State University. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UCLA and was a Trainee in the National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) Innovation at the Nexus of Food, Energy, and Water Systems (INFEWS) program.

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