Outstanding Professionals and Professional Faculty Outreach Award
VIMS' Outstanding Professionals and Professional Faculty Outreach Award recognizes significant contributions and a record of outstanding performance towards fulfilling VIMS’ outreach mission.
The 2021 award goes to Karen Duhring.
Karen has done a tremendous job of outreach for VIMS and the Center for Coastal Resources Management. She has reached countless people through her efforts and is well-known throughout the Commonwealth. If you meet someone and tell them you are from VIMS, they’ll probably know Karen. She has sacrificed many weekends and evenings to train NGOs, agencies, businesses, cities, and private citizens about living shorelines, wetland management, and how to use resources and tools to make scientifically based decisions.
Karen helped develop the Virginia Master Naturalist and Master Gardner Shoreline Evaluation programs. These programs give coastal property owners guidelines for their shorelines, including recommendations for improving stormwater management, reducing pollutant and sediment runoff, and controlling shoreline erosion. 
She was instrumental in developing the Living Shoreline Collaborative in the James River Basin, which works with regional and state partners to make shorelines more resilient throughout the James River watershed.
Karen is greatly respected by those she interacts with. She has a wealth of knowledge and is willing to share that knowledge with everyone. She is a terrific ambassador for VIMS and highly deserving of this award.
Congratulations, Karen!