Laura Hess '06 is the Head of Enabling Tech & Science at Bayer Ecosystem Services

Laura Hess’s passion for building a more sustainable food system began during her time at Yale and has shaped a career at the forefront of agricultural sustainability and climate innovation. A pioneer within the Environmental Studies Program, Laura helped create EVST’s Food & Agriculture concentration and co-authored the proposal to establish the Yale Farm during her first year. She also became the program’s first Lazarus Fellow.

Laura’s senior essay, Liberalization and Its Discontents: The Impacts of the North American Free Trade Agreement on Corn Production in Mexico, was advised by John Wargo and reflected her early interest in the intersection of agriculture, environmental policy, and sustainability.

After graduating in 2006, Laura earned a Masters in Natural Resources from the University of Buenos Aires and a PhD in Environmental Earth System Science from Stanford University, and gained hands-on farming experience in Medford, Oregon. She now serves as Head of Enabling Technology and Science for Ecosystem Services at Bayer Crop Science, one of the world’s largest agricultural companies. 

Laura and her teams develop technology and models to accelerate adoption of environmentally sustainable farming practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, sequester soil carbon, and improve ecosystem health. Her work supports regenerative agriculture adoption on millions of acres across four continents. Prior to this work, she developed predictive agronomic models to optimize nitrogen fertilizer use, forecast crop development, and predict crop diseases, helping farmers make more informed management decisions to increase yield while reducing environmental impact. 

As an environmental scientist and innovator, Laura continues to demonstrate how data science and technology can help build a more resilient and sustainable global food system.