Karen L Nelson
Karen Nelson (she/her/hers) is a Hiring Manager/Supervisor on the Operations Team at the USGS Upper Midwest Water Science Center, based in Madison, WI, actively involved in collateral duties involving coaching, coach training and mediation at the Department level.
Karen started with the USGS in 1999 as a Pathways "SCEP" intern on the I.T. Support team in Wisconsin’s Water Resources Division, later the Wisconsin Water Science Center. She worked her way up to Supervisor of the I.T. team in 2012 where she focused on employee and leadership development and concentrated on security related initiatives. She is an inclusion and disability rights advocate who recruits annually for the Workforce Recruitment Program (WRP).
Prior to working at the USGS, Karen worked in Marketing/Industry Relations and Member Services at state agencies (Wisconsin Department of Tourism; PBS Wisconsin) with additional stints at non-profits and in the corporate world.
Karen also provides leadership coaching to federal employees as a DOI Internal Coach and is currently on the faculty of the Department of Interior (DOI) Internal Coach Training Program (ICTP). Karen is also an active member on the Center’s DEIA Council, and a DOI CORE PLUS mediator/in-house neutral where she provides impartial and confidential assistance to any DOI employee seeking to improve or resolve conflict, workplace issues or concerns.