Lara leads Greater China power and renewables research and is a member of Asia's research and consulting team. Lara focuses on Greater China's power and renewable market fundamentals, key players across the value chain, and policy and market reform analysis. Prior to joining S&P Global, Lara spent eight years at Rio Tinto, most recently as principal advisor, where she researched commodity market fundamentals and generated China policy insights in coal resources and electricity procurement options for aluminum smelting. In her role at Rio Tinto, she oversaw global coal price forecast and cross-commodity research on industrial, environmental, and state-owned enterprise reform policies. Earlier, Lara served at Noble and BHP Billiton as an analyst with cross-commodity research responsibilities, and at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce as a debt market research analyst.

A CFA charterholder, Lara holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Xiamen University, China, and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Toronto, Canada.