Kari Vigerstol
Senior Advisor, Water Scarcity and Resilience
Seattle, WA
Kari Vigerstol Senior Advisor, Water Scarcity and Resilience © TNC
AREAs OF EXPERTISE
water resources planning & management, corporate water stewardship, hydrology, systems thinking
Biography
As Senior Advisor, Water Scarcity and Resilience, Kari Vigerstol leads TNC’s efforts to scale local solutions to balance water demand and supply. Drawing on more than 25 years of experience, Kari works with partners to safeguard rivers and groundwater-dependent ecosystems, and in so doing, improve resilience across corporate value chains and communities around the world.
In parallel to advancing on-the-ground watershed resilience, Kari provides technical expertise in support of global policy decisions on drought and water scarcity, including through representing TNC in the International Drought Resilience Alliance (IDRA) and through the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
Her expertise spans agricultural water sustainability, integrated water resource management, corporate water stewardship, innovative financing approaches, and science-based policy in water-stressed river basins.
Kari holds a B.S. and an M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Rice University and the University of Washington, respectively, with a focus in Water Resource Planning and Management. She is a licensed professional engineer.
She led the teams behind reports including Beyond the Source: the environmental, economic, and community benefits of source water protection and Accelerating Adaptation: Exploring the promise and limitations of nature-based solutions in the race to adapt to increasing floods and droughts and has co-authored many peer-reviewed papers on sustainable water management.
Kari is an avid trail runner and outdoor adventurer. Her highlights include biking across Africa to raise money for a community well in Ethiopia, completing 36-hour adventure races and recently running around Mt Rainier’s 96-mile Wonderland Trail in three days.