Kris is a coastal engineer and climate scientist with over three decades of experience providing leadership and technical expertise related to climate change resilience and adaptation strategy development, with an emphasis on coastal environments, sea level rise, rising groundwater, and increasing extreme precipitation as the climate continues to warm. Kris firmly believes that adapting our shorelines requires consideration of the entire water cycle, while balancing nature-based solutions, protecting our built environments, and honest discussions of managed retreat.

Kris founded Pathways because she is passionate about helping communities adapt to our changing climate, including building capacity within communities, and developing climate adaptation plans that are actionable and equitable, based on the latest climate science, with tangible roadmaps (pathways) for implementation.

Kris currently serves as a lead author for the Fifth National Climate Assessment (Coastal Effects and Blue Carbon), technical working group member for the New York State Climate Assessment, Engineering Criteria Review Board Member for the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, and previously served as a lead author for the Fourth National Climate Assessment.

When she is not working, you can often find her walking or running along the San Francisco Bay Trail. She lives in Alameda where she is raising two amazing children that love art, math, and science. She has three cats and four aquatic turtles.