We are pleased to welcome a new addition to the Clackamas SWCD’s WeedWise Program. Lindsey Karr is our newest WeedWise Specialist, joining the Weedwise program in late 2016. She works on controlling, surveying, and mapping invasive species; conducting outreach to landowners; and also collaborates with many of our partners to carry out the management plan for the Clackamas River Invasive Species Partnership (CRISP).
Lindsey has worked with a variety of natural resource organizations in the Portland metro area, including a year-long internship with the City of Portland controlling invasive plants; a winter with the Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation District maintaining natural areas; and summers with the US Forest Service as a ranger, the Mount St. Helens Institute as a guide, and the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement as a plant ecologist. She has also conducted plant surveys on Mount St. Helens and Mt. Adams, and in timber harvest areas across Oregon and Washington. Before joining our team, she spent her summer controlling invasive plants at the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, where she worked with volunteers and often got around in kayaks or ATVs.
Lindsey grew up in Washington with a thirst for adventure and exploration that was closely tied to a love for nature. She earned her Bachelor’s in Mathematics from Seattle Pacific University, and then taught high school for 9 years, including one year of teaching English in Kathmandu, Nepal. While still working as a teacher, she began guiding outdoor trips in 2005. Her love for the outdoors, desire to protect natural resources, and fascination with plants lead her to pursue a Master’s in Environmental Management from Portland State University, which she completed in 2014. For her thesis, she studied the spread of non-native plants at Mount St. Helens.
Lindsey lives in Portland and loves growing vegetables, cooking tasty food, taking photos of wildflowers, and exploring forests and mountains.