Summary: About<br> Karen is a lifelong environmentalist, naturalist, educator, poet, author and overpopulation activist. She began her career as a naturalist in 1983 and as the director of the City of Richfield’s Wood Lake Nature Center in 1991. She is passionate about the role nature centers can make in keeping communities thriving. She is a former public and private school teacher and received her doctorate from the University of St. Thomas in 2002 where she studied critical pedagogy and its implications for the future of nature centers.<br> As a member of the advisory board of the non-profit “ World Population Balance,” she has become deeply alarmed by the lack of discourse surrounding the overpopulation crisis. In 2015 she published her book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Move-Upstream-Call-Solve-Overpopulation/dp/0988493837">Move Upstream, A Call To Solve Overpopulation</a>.<br> Topics<br> <br> * What is an upstream conversation on population or conservation?<br> * Context matters: where and when to engage on issues depends on what part of the “river” you’re on.<br> * Solving overpopulation is one of the hardest conversations to have. Tips for communicating effectively on population issues.<br> <br> Extra Credit<br> <br> * Read Karen’s article here on Rewilding.org: <a href="https://rewilding.org/its-hard-to-practice-social-distancing-in-an-overpopulated-world/">It’s Hard to Practice Social Distancing in an Overpopulated World</a><br> * Karen’s site: <a href="https://movingupstream.com">MovingUpstream.com</a><br> <br> About<br> Karen is a lifelong environmentalist, naturalist, educator, poet, author and overpopulation activist. She began her career as a naturalist in 1983 and as the director of the City of Richfield’s Wood Lake Nature Center in 1991. She is passionate about the role nature centers can make in keeping communities thriving. She is a former public and private school teacher and received her doctorate from the University of St. Thomas in 2002 where she studied critical pedagogy and its implications for the future of nature centers.<br> As a member of the advisory board of the non-profit “ World Population Balance,” she has become deeply alarmed by the lack of discourse surrounding the overpopulation crisis. In 2015 she published her book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Move-Upstream-Call-Solve-Overpopulation/dp/0988493837">Move Upstream, A Call To Solve Overpopulation</a>.<br> Topics<br> <br> * What is an upstream conversation on population or conservation?<br> * Context matters: where and when to engage on issues depends on what part of the “river” you’re on.<br> * Solving overpopulation is one of the hardest conversations to have. Tips for communicating effectively on population issues.<br> <br> Extra Credit<br> <br> * Read Karen’s article here on Rewilding.org: <a href="https://rewilding.org/its-hard-to-practice-social-distancing-in-an-overpopulated-world/">It’s Hard to Practice Social Distancing in an Overpopulated World</a><br> * Karen’s site: <a href="https://movingupstream.com">MovingUpstream.com</a><br> <br>
