In honor of AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) Month, UC ANR is excited to spotlight Katie Low, UC ANR Fire Network statewide coordinator.

Low was born in Northern California and lived in the Bay Area before moving to Sacramento at a young age. She comes from a Chinese-American family – second generation on her father’s side and third on her mother’s. 

From 2016 to 2020, Low attended UC Berkeley where she majored in forestry and geography. Immediately after receiving her undergraduate degrees, she pursued a Master of Forestry with an emphasis in fire ecology, from UC Berkeley as well. 

She chose this field because of her interest in environmental science, which began during her experience at COSMOS, a UC-based pre-college program for high school students. 

“I spent a summer at UC Santa Cruz, and it was like an eight-week summer camp,” Low said. “I was in an environmental science-related class for the summer, and I thought that was really cool. And so when I was applying to colleges, I was like, ‘That's what I want to do: environmental science.’” 

In a twist of fate, when she received her admission letter from UC Berkeley, it was for the forestry program, not environmental science. 

“My parents and I read the whole thing, and the letter was like, ‘You got into the College of Natural Resources as a forestry major’ but I did not remember putting forestry down at all,” Low said. “And so my thought was, ‘Oh, I’m just going to accept because this is my dream school, and I will see if I am interested in forestry.’”

Low decided to stay in the forestry program due to its close-knit community, welcoming professors and vast networking opportunities. In fact, UC Berkeley is one of three accredited forestry programs in California, alongside Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Cal Poly Humboldt. 

Her experiences studying forestry led her to discover UC ANR. Due to the relatively small size of forestry and fire science as an industry, Low found that there was ample opportunity to meet professionals in the field. From field trips to conferences, she recalled the number of UC Cooperative Extension forestry mentors and professionals she met as an undergraduate – Ricky Satomi, Rob York, and the late Ryan Tompkins, to name a few.

The mentorship and support Low received throughout her academic and professional career inspired her to give back. Alongside other colleagues in the field, she helped start the Forestry and Natural Resources Career Mentorship Program. The program focuses on connecting students in forestry programs with professionals working in the industry, as a way to gain mentorship and networking opportunities.

“One really critical part of this program – and part of my impetus for wanting to start it in the first place – is our program has a very specific focus on diversity, equity, inclusion and justice,” Low said. “And we also make a concerted effort, if the participants want, to pair students with mentors who share similar identities or interests. 

As a Chinese-American woman in forestry and fire science, Low understands what it’s like to be underrepresented in academic and professional spheres. 

“Speaking for myself, I had a really hard time finding mentors and support from people who looked like me, who came from similar backgrounds as me,” she explained. 

Although representation has been limited, being Chinese-American is a source of strength and wisdom for Low. She thinks of the strength of her grandparents, immigrating to the Sacramento Delta region without knowing how to speak English and then becoming successful farmers – as well as the wisdom of her culture, emphasizing the importance of hospitality and community. 

With these sentiments in mind, she reminds herself of her role as an educator, community leader and Cooperative Extension professional – making sure that people in her community feel welcomed and that information is shared to motivate people to act. 

“I am grateful for the ability to work creatively and collaboratively with local communities to promote fire and forest resilience across California,” Low said. “Working for UC ANR has afforded me many opportunities to grow as a professional and also uplift others in my community to enter into the fire and resource management space.”