Join us to bid a fond farewell to Water Institute Research Coordinator Karen Schlatter
The Water Institute community bids a fond farewell to Karen Schlatter who will be taking the role of Associate Director of the Colorado Water Center at Colorado State University.
Since 2019, Karen has applied her diverse background in resource management, interdisciplinary partnerships, and stakeholder facilitation to coordinate water-related research, extension, and education initiatives at the Water Institute.
Since joining the UF Water Institute Karen has served as coordinator of the Florida Water and Climate Alliance (FloridaWCA), a stakeholder-scientist partnership committed to increasing the relevance of climate-science data and tools to support decision-making in water resource management, planning and supply operations in Florida. Under her coordination the Florida WCA updated their strategic plan and increased active membership by an order of magnitude.
“Karen’s contribution is remarkable! She was able to create a seamless collaborative atmosphere among the academics, practitioners and other stakeholders taking science to action” said Tirusew Asefa Chair of the Florida WCA Steering Committee.
Karen has been pivotal to the coordination of one of our keystone projects, The Floridan Aquifer Collaborative Engagement for Sustainability (FACETS) Project which engages a team of interdisciplinary researchers and stakeholders in Florida and Georgia to co-produce and explore the ability of alternative socio-ecological scenarios to sustain local agricultural/silvicultural economies and protect the Floridan aquifer.
“Karen has a knack for being able to help groups move back and forth from down-in-the-weeds-detailed-discussions to birds-eye-view-blue-sky-conversations. Her beautiful mind and generous spirit will be missed greatly by us all” said Wendy Lin Bartels, leader of the FACETS Stakeholder engagement team
Over the past year Karen also coordinated a Water Institute expert panel to assess the water resource benefits associated with the Florida Wildlife Corridor, a conservation initiative to protect and connect wildlife habitats across the state.
“Karen’s coordination of the Florida Wildlife Corridor Expert Panel is one more example of her amazing combination of scientific knowledge, technical writing, and people skills. Her leadership and facilitation of this group has been the keystone to our success. We celebrate Karen’s opportunity with Colorado State University, but are very sorry to see her go” said Wendy Graham, Director of the UF Water Institute.
“These are just a few examples of Karen’s outstanding leadership in support to our projects and programs. It has been a real pleasure collaborating with Karen and I wish her all the best moving forward” said her colleague Paloma Carton de Grammont.
December 6, 2022