Karen Katz
University of Minnesota
Karen's research on the project
Local perceptions of climate change on the North Shore
Karen's work involves the collection and analysis of a series of "community climate narratives" that will provide a better understanding of how residents and resource managers feel about climate change and its impacts to the North Shore.
About Karen
Karen is a Master’s student in the Department of Forest Resources at the University of Minnesota working under the advisement of Mae Davenport. Karen is a native Minnesotan and has strong ties to the natural and cultural heritage of the state. On the North Shore Community Climate Readiness Project, Karen has been collecting and analyzing a series of “community climate narrative” from North Shore residents and resource managers. The narratives provide local insight and historical knowledge about how the North Shore’s communities have been able to cope with, and respond to, environmental change in the past. Understanding how the region has responded to change in the past can provide valuable insight into how it can best prepare for change in the future.
Karen is particularly interested in human connections to place and how these bonds with natural landscapes and social communities may influence individuals’ climate change belief. Part of her analysis involves digging into this relationship as a possible resource for enhancing the relatability of climate change education on the North Shore.