Kara Garcia

OPERATIONS ASSOCIATE AND FIELD TECHNICIAN

Kara grew up camping, biking, canoeing, rock climbing, and hiking. Her earliest and fondest memories have been in the great outdoors, it’s no wonder that she strove to continue making the natural world a part of her present, future, and chosen career path. Kara’s passion for science and the natural world continues to grow with time and knowledge. As a student, continuing her education fueled the need to do and be a part of something bigger than herself. She not only cares deeply about ecological restoration but its impact in allowing future generations of fellow nature enthusiasts is what drives her need to do this work. Her childhood, studies, and volunteering experiences have built confidence, comfort, and safety in working outdoors. While thriving working outdoors, her love for nature combined with the devotion to conservation empowers her to be a passionate and dedicated field technician.

Kara is always looking for opportunities to continue her education in natural resources, which is why she was ecstatic to receive the 2021 VOC Steve Austin Training Scholarship. In working with Wildland Restoration Volunteers (WRV) as a college student, she was able to build H-frames and repair wildlife friendly fencing. During the Pandemic, Kara volunteered for seed collection and ecological restoration crew leader training as well as collected local flora plugs at Mt. Evans which she transplanted along steep, rocky slopes to reduce erosion; she also planted seedlings and built rock beds at Lake Summit to protect transplants from alpine climate and human users. She took as much pride working on property that was affected by the CalWood Fire as she did collecting seeds for WRV because the work done that day continues to make a difference. During her internship at RECCS, she researched the Hydraulic Conductivity Among Varied Elevation Gradients within Boulder Creek CZO and Niwot Ridge LTER sites, first of its kind data towards helping her mentor in building models of snowmelt to better understand and protect our watersheds. 

Since the fall of 2022, Kara has grown into a dedicated crew leader and equipment operator with AloTerra. Her passion and skills help manage construction projects such as native seeding, planting, erosion control, streambank stabilization, earth moving, and forestry with finesse and integrity.