Laurel Ross manages the local conservation and education programs of The Field Museum in the Calumet region, and is Vice Chair of the Executive Council of the Chicago Wilderness consortium.

From 1992 until 2004, Laurel worked for The Nature Conservancy as Director of Conservation Programs for Illinois. As such, she oversaw land acquisition, conservation science, planning, and government relations for the Illinois Chapter statewide. She began at the Conservancy in the role of Coordinator of the Volunteer Stewardship Network, a robust corps of over 5000 volunteers who participate in stewardship of biologically significant natural areas. In that capacity she initiated the Mighty Acorns youth stewardship program and facilitated its expansion to many other partners in the region. From 1983 until 1992, she was Director of the North Park Village Nature Center in Chicago.

Laurel was among the group of original organizers of Chicago Wilderness, which was launched in 1996 and has grown to be a consortium of over 225 agencies and institutions united in an effort to conserve biodiversity and to raise public awareness of the abundant biodiversity of the Chicago region.