Karen Verpeet is Managing Director of the Resilient Landscapes Program at the San Francisco Estuary Institute. In this role, she collaborates with an interdisciplinary team of experts focused on creating healthier ecosystems and communities that are more resilient to climate change. The program works at a variety of scales across the landscape, from upper watersheds and urban areas, to the shores of the Bay and Delta. 

She also serve as SFEI's program manager for the Wetlands Regional Monitoring Program (WRMP), which SFEI co-administers with the San Francisco Estuary Partnership. After many years of planning, the program is in the early stages of implementation with a goal to both inform science-based decision-making for wetland restoration/management, and to increase the cost-effectiveness of wetland restoration project monitoring.

Prior to joining SFEI, Karen's 20 years of landscape architecture work involved creating/restoring native habitat in wildland settings, collaborating on open space projects at the urban-wildland interface, and integrating native habitat into urban landscapes. On most projects she was involved in the planning, design, construction, and post-construction monitoring phases. Throughout these ecological design projects, she managed multi-disciplinary teams, worked closely with clients to inform their strategic and technical decisions, and coordinated with other project partners (local agencies, municipalities, communities, and organizations).

She holds a Masters in Landscape Architecture from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Biology & Management from UC Davis.