Karin Olsen

At Johns Hopkins, Karin Olsen is a lecturer in the MS in Environmental Sciences and Policy program. A licensed Professional Geologist and Certified Planner, Olsen has more than 25 years as an environmental program and project manager working in coastal systems along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Her projects have focused on offshore wind energy development, coastal habitat and ecosystem restoration, port infrastructure redevelopment, environmental data collection, and long-term planning to improve coastal resiliency. She is an expert in NEPA assessment and complex permitting for large infrastructure projects and has led environmental studies to document existing conditions, develop project alternatives, assess impacts of proposed projects, and implement monitoring frameworks. She has negotiated with federal and state agencies to design and implement nature-based solutions in marine and estuarine environments and has worked closely with regional partners and the regulatory community.

Olsen has spent her career studying environmental challenges in coastal environments, where the interaction between the environment and people is the most synergistic. She has successfully led collaborative, multidiscipline teams through project scoping, alternatives development, site characterization studies, impact assessments, permitting, monitoring, and adaptive management. Olsen has completed projects in marine, estuarine, and freshwater environments, including wetland restoration, nutrient and water quality monitoring, shoreline protection, dredged material management, natural resource surveys, environmental risk assessment, ecotoxicological testing, and strategic planning.

An adjunct professor in geology, oceanography, and environmental policy since 2006, Olsen also serves as a mentor for early college students in the sciences. She received her BS in Geology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a MS in Marine Sciences from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and a MS in Environmental Policy and Planning from Johns Hopkins University.