Kara was born and raised in southern New Jersey. After receiving her BS in Biology from American University in Washington DC, Kara briefly lived and SCUBA-ed in Akumal, Mexico to continue her undergraduate research in coral reef health and diseases. Hurricane season blew her back to the States, and began working as a Coastal Zone Management Associate at NOAA headquarters in Silver Spring, MD. Inspired to continue her education, Kara made the long trek across the county to UC Santa Barbara to begin her Master’s degree at the Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management. Kara is interested in coastal development, green building and sustainable community development and planning. See Kara's résumé here.

Email: kshuster@bren.ucsb.edu