Liz Thomas is a professional hiker, adventure conservationist, and outdoor writer who encourages people to get out and hike their city. She’s designed and walked 13 U.S. cities on 100+ mile hiking routes and will complete a route in San Antonio for BikeTexas in conjunction with this conference. Thomas is best known for the women’s self-supported speed record on the 2,181-mile long Appalachian Trail. A guest editor and regular contributor to Backpacker Magazine, Thomas has been featured on Good Morning America and has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Yahoo!News, Men’s Journal, Women’s Health, Outside, among other publications. Her book Long Trails: Mastering the Art of the Thru-Hike received the 2017 National Outdoor Book Award for Best Instructional book. Thomas serves as the vice president of the American Long Distance Hiking Association and ambassador to American Hiking Society. A former staff writer at Wirecutter/New York Times, Thomas is a currently Editor in Chief at Treeline Review, an outdoor magazine. She holds a masters in Environmental Science from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, where she held a Doris Duke Conservation Fellowship for her research on trails, conservation, and trail-side communities.