Luiza Lucena grew up in northeastern Brazil among rainforests, dry forests, and mangroves. She is currently pursuing an MSc in Natural Resources Science and Management in the Department of Forest Resources at the University of Minnesota. Luiza received her bachelor’s degree in Forest Engineering in 2020 from the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, Brazil. She has been given seven awards for being intensely involved in research, extension, and leadership roles, including General Project Leader at the Forestry Practices Group (a Brazilian Student Organization), where she developed a platform for tracking forest products that connects consumers and producers. She has worked on six key projects involving agroforestry marketing, forest communities, and the densification of organic food production networks. After receiving her undergraduate degree, she worked at WWF-Brasil, focusing on communication and stakeholder mobilization to promote reforestation with agroforestry systems. Her primary research interest focuses on market-based conservation with an emphasis on marketing non-timber forest products. She is currently researching non-timber forest product attributes attractive to the U.S. markets and the enhancement of sustainable value chains on a project funded by the Rainforest Alliance in the Maya Biosphere Reserve, Guatemala. Luiza currently works as a Research Assistant at the Center for Integrated Natural Resources & Agricultural Management and volunteers for the CFANS Graduate Student Board and iGiveTrees, restoring degraded ecosystems in Brazil.