Karen Verpeet
Karen Verpeet, MLA
Program Managing Director
Resilient Landscapes Program
Delta Science & Management
Historical Ecology
Urban Nature Lab
Karen Verpeet is Managing Director of the Resilient Landscapes Program at the San Francisco Estuary Institute. She is a registered landscape architect with 20 years of professional experience in the design and planning of habitat restoration and open space projects. Many of these projects have involved creating habitat for sensitive wildlife species, integrating native habitats at the urban-wildlands interface, and coordinating with regulatory agencies and local municipalities, communities, and stakeholders.
Karen is an experienced project and program manager. She has managed teams of ecologists, landscape architects, and other teaming partners in complex ecological design and planning projects. She works closely with clients to inform their strategic and technical decisions, and her follow through and attention to detail allow her to closely track project details.
She holds a Masters in Landscape Architecture from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Biology & Management from UC Davis.
Related Projects, News, and Events
Ecology for Health (Project)
The Ecology for Health guide is based on an extensive review of ecological literature on the potential of cities to support native plants and wildlife, as well as research exploring the health benefits of access to biodiverse greenspace. Anyone making decisions about land use and urban design in cities across the world can benefit from the recommendations in this guide (including community-based organizations, local non-profits, local leaders and policymakers, city planners, urban designers, landscape architects, engineers, gardeners/horticulturists/arborists, residents, and landowners).
Introducing the Landscape Scenario Planning Tool Version 2.0 (News)
In partnership with the Delta Stewardship Council, the San Francisco Estuary Institute has developed version 2.0 of the Landscape Scenario Planning Tool, a GIS-based analysis toolkit to evaluate user-designed land use and restoration scenarios for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Suisun Marsh. This free mapping toolbox brings together ten years of science-based research and peer-reviewed methods for California’s Delta-Suisun region.
Suisun Landscapes (Project)
As the largest brackish marsh on the West Coast, Suisun Marsh is a unique transitional landscape between the Bay and the Delta portions of the Estuary. The Marsh has long been managed for recreational hunting and native biodiversity, yet it is threatened by an uncertain future under climate change. Sea level rise and increasing salinity pose significant threats to the current structure and uses of the Marsh. Likely impacts include conversion of wetlands to open water, changes in species composition, increased flood risk, and drainage challenges in managed wetlands.