Karen is an experienced documentary photographer, content manager, and researcher. She is the former chief photo editor for National Geographic Television, and as managing photo editor for Bill Gates’ Corbis Corporation led the team that built the world’s first digital image archive. Her diverse career includes photo-editing assignments for the U.S. Information Agency, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art, National Wildlife, U.S. News and World Report, Vanity Fair, and others. In 2005, Karen co-led a two-month expedition to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands (www.headhuntrevisited.org), re-tracing the 1920s-era journey of two American women who recorded images of what they feared were vanishing cultures.
Karen has successfully managed cross-functional teams at publishing, e-commerce, and media organizations. She is the former West Coast chapter president for the American Society of Picture Professionals, and a former board member of Youth in Focus. She’s a Fellow of The Explorers Club and a member of the National Press Photographers Association and the Society of Woman Geographers. Awards include the Scott Pearlman Field Award for Science and Exploration, the Nell Shipman post-production award and a Washington state arts commission grant. Karen earned a B.A. in anthropology from Colorado College.