Karen Vanek Email & Phone Number

Afton, Mn, Us

My core objective is to facilitate the building of a living self-regulating societal foundation that is supported through a collective shared responsibility in exercising stewardship. My 15 years of professional experience in ecological sciences, organic agriculture, and whole systems design prepared me to contribute to organizations who are interested in strengthening their alignment with the laws of nature.

United States

I welcomed our new clients, created and marketed interactive workshops, and organized their ecological restoration projects across the globe. At every opportunity, I'd join the field teams in transplanting hundreds of thousands of fruit and nut seedlings along with surveying water management systems among these projects. I implemented new business strategies that over the course of my seven years helped 4x revenue and replenish thousands of acres of degraded landscapes.

Viola, Wi

Forest Agriculture Nursery supplies crop-producing tree and shrub seedlings that have gone through an extensive adaptive breeding program and chosen for their compatibility in many kinds of agricultural systems. I worked with ecological agricultural experts on crop consultation and plant nursery sales that supported Regenerative Agriculture, Conservation, Food Plots, Agroforestry, Permaculture, Ecological Restorations and other ecologically productive design systems. I expanded nursery sales, extended the grower network into 4 additonal bioregions, and provided education for our mass-selection adaptive breeding program. The nursery supplied bare-root dormant nursery stock of food producing and woody crop plants, with a specialty in Midwest Hybrid Hazelnuts and Hybrid Chestnuts, that were successfully cropped in Southwest Wisconsin.

Mcdonald Farm At 10S404 Knoch Knolls, Naperville, Il 60565

The Resiliency Institute is a 501(C3) whose mission is to transform the suburbs of Illinois into resilient permaculture communities rich in social and ecological capital. Early on, I taught ecological landscape design illustration and provided botanical identification tours. I also worked with TRI in designing and installing the city of Naperville's first demonstration edible forest garden. It is thriving and continues to serve as a living laboratory and peaceful space on the grounds of McDonald Farm.

19370 Highway G Mineral Point, Wi 53565

I learned about all aspects of organic produce including sowing seeds, transplanting seedlings, watering, weeding, harvesting, washing, storing and packing. Additionally, I gained marketing experience by recruiting new CSA members at trade shows and selling our produce at Chicago farmer's markets. One of my most unique experiences at King's Hill Farm was establishing a 3-acre food forest early in the growing season that thrived even throughout the record drought! I also learned about means to cultivate, harvest and preserve shiitake mushrooms grown on Ironwood logs. Additional responsibilities included feeding the pigs, chickens, turkeys, ducks and installing portable solar electric fencing. Our crew rotated preparing lunch, and I especially enjoyed the challenge of inventing nutritious dishes from ingredients fresh-picked off the farm! Along with farming, a mixture of hard work, cooperation, economics, ecology and animal husbandry skills were had during this internship which gave me a deeper appreciation for the energy it takes to create organic foods.

Argonne National Laboratory

I worked in Geoffrey Greene's lab purifying and crystallizing cytosolic protein/ligand complexes for the Ben May Department for Cancer Research at the University of Chicago.Laine, Muriel & Rajan, Shyamala & Vanek, Karen & Zarnke, Allison & Greene, Geoffrey. (2011). Differential Gene Regulation by Estradiol, Estriol and Estetrol Treatment in Breast Cancer Cells. 10.1210/endo-meetings.2011.PART1.P3.P1-74.

Greater Chicago Area

The Terrestrial Ecology Laboratory at Argonne National Laboratory first introduced me to a day in the life of an ecological researcher. During my time with Mike Miller's lab, I participated in a number of projects and gained exposure to a variety of analyses and techniques. In the Biofuels Project, I constructed plots and grew 35 switchgrass and big bluestem cultivars at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory to study growth, root morphology, carbon sequestration, and mycorrhizal colonization of cultivars. For the Enriched Background Isotope Study (EBIS II Ameriflux), I processed 14C-labeled soil, root and hyphae samples from Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, and New Hampshire to examine the rate of exchange of carbon pools between roots and surrounding soil. And for the Chicago Park District Carbon Emission Project, I calculated biomass of lawn and restored prairie vegetation to chart total carbon levels. Additionally, I extracted phosphlipid fatty acids (PLFA) from soil and fungal hyphae for Mass Spectrometry analyses and prepared soil samples for analysis of total carbon and nitrogen for use in the automated combustion instrument (Leco) for all aforementioned projects.

My responsibilities included gathering data from newly established fire management research plots for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Over the course of six months, my team surveyed several hundred acres of landscape in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa using Fire Effects Monitoring and Inventory Protocol (FIREMON). I catalogued more than 93 plant species from North Dakota grasslands, coniferous, and deciduous forests. This contribution of data impacts the application of prescribed burns in land management regimes to re-naturalize degraded rangelands.

This position developed my skills in establishing and maintained trusting relationships with clients through caring for their beloved pets. My work took me through many of the neighborhoods throughout Chicago where I had the pleasure of meeting many colorful personalities (both man and beast) and experiencing the diverse households that comprise this fine city. I took great care in tailoring my work around the particular needs of every pet. I appreciated the deep level of trust and confidence that each client had in me to take care of their pet(s) and their homes while they were away.

While still in Highschool, I was learned about office management and real estate. I engaged in customer service, office upkeep, organization and property advertising (both in the local newspapers and online). I developed a working knowledge of computer and communication skills as they related to real estate office work. This included creating and maintaining spreadsheets to help manage budgets, organize property listings, and property contracts. I regularly engaged with customers and agent in-person and over the phone.

Bachelor Of Science (Bs), Biology/Biological Sciences, General

Studied biology

Master Of Arts (Ma), Environmental Studies

Study ecological design