Karen Clancy

While Karen has worked in some unrelated fields (snowboarding instructor, independent bookstore employee, barista), her path from a young age revolved around expanding her knowledge and experience with native plants and design. She worked in nurseries and landscaping, and as a horticulture and landscape maintenance intern at the Arnold Arboretum in Boston, before receiving her Master’s in Landscape Architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design. As a registered landscape architect in PA, Karen has worked with native plant nurseries, as a plant buyer, in landscape design and management for parks and streetscapes in Center City Philadelphia, and in creating and expanding access to nature in underserved urban communities for Natural Lands.

Karen lives in Philly with her husband, two daughters, a cat and no yard. Still, she manages to cultivate a native landscape for her family and neighbors to enjoy via containers on her roof and sidewalk garden.