Karen's research interests, publications and presentations involve economics education and the economics of human-wildlife interaction. Before joining academia, she worked as an Economist at the USDA/APHIS/Wildlife Services/National Wildlife Research Center conducting research on the interactions of humans and wildlife. Her current research focuses on using learning analytics to improve student learning outcomes in economics education with an emphasis on improving grades and completion rates in online courses. She is an early adopter of technology in the classroom and advocates strongly for it because she sees the difference it makes in student engagement and learning.

Karen has taught online consistently since 2005 and coordinates the online program within the Department of Economics at CSU. She also coordinates the CSU-FTU Vietnam Economics Curriculum Program.

She was the recipient of the Water Pik Excellence in Education Award in 2006 and winner of the CSU Alumni Association Best Teacher Award for 2015.

In her free time, Karen enjoys rock climbing, traveling, and drinking wine in the Colorado Rockies and beyond.