Karen’s deep appreciation for public lands started with annual camping forays to National Parks from her family’s St. Louis home; continued through graduate school and work as a field biologist in the Arctic, and grew profoundly via a mid-career job directing a conservation non-profit in Alaska.

A 2014 move to the CA Central Coast to support her husband Brendan’s career led Karen to switch her own professional focus to helping non-profit organizations raise and manage money to best meet their missions. Karen works as the Accounting Manager at Monterey Peninsula College Foundation and serves as Treasurer or on the Finance Committee of four local organizations.

Public lands like Point Lobos do not become cherished jewels without the hard decisions and hard work of the public. Karen joined the Pt Lobos Foundation Board in 2021 to share in some of that hard work–and of course for the opportunity to develop an even deeper relationship with this glorious Reserve right in her neighborhood.