Summary
Karen D is a Senior Scientist with eight years of interdisciplinary research experience focused on how urban design, development, and private property decisions shape biodiversity and human-nature interactions. She combines academic rigor from a PhD in Urban Design and Planning with applied work across universities, consulting firms, and her role at Dendrolytics to deliver data products, policy analysis, and decision tools for sustainable urban landscapes. Karen regularly partners with city staff, developers, and stakeholders to translate ecological research into practical interventions that influence on-the-ground choices by developers, homeowners, and renters. Her work emphasizes the often-overlooked leverage of private-property decisions in urban ecology, turning fine-grained data into actionable guidance for planners and policymakers. Known for bridging research and practice, she also brings mapping and spatial informatics expertise honed through roles with Spatial Informatics Group and urban strategy consultancies. Based in the United States, she blends marine and terrestrial perspectives from early training in natural resources and urban marine conservation to inform holistic urban ecological solutions.
8 years of coding experience
5 years of employment as a software developer
PhD, Urban Design and Planning, PhD, Urban Design and Planning at University of Washington
MMA, Urban Marine Conservation, MMA, Urban Marine Conservation at School of Marine Affairs, UW
BS, Natural Resources, BS, Natural Resources at Cornell University