October 7, 1996

Karen Holl

Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies

Karen Holl comes to UCSC from Stanford, where she spent two years doing postdoctoral work in southern Costa Rica. Holl, who is interested in understanding how ecosystems function and applying that knowledge to public policy, studied the factors limiting the recovery of land that had been cleared for grazing, and she researched methods for restoring the land. At UCSC, Holl has begun work on a chaparral restoration project at the new Fort Ord Reserve, a 600-acre parcel of maritime chaparral. Holl was drawn to UCSC because of the interdisciplinary nature of the ES program and the balance of graduate and undergraduate activity here. Independent undergraduate research is often overlooked at many larger research universities, says Holl. She holds a B.S. from Stanford and a Ph.D. from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, both in biology.

--Jennifer McNulty