Karen L. Duston, PhD

Karen Duston is an advocate of conservation and sustainability. In her capacity as advisor to the Holocaust Garden of Hope, she is using her expertise to help enhance the Garden’s green space for use by wildlife as well as visitors. Dr. Duston retired from the San Jacinto College District in Houston, Texas where she served as the Chair of the Department of Natural Sciences before stepping down to develop the two-year engineering program on the South campus. She taught a variety of courses in the fields of biology, geology, and engineering, including environmental
science courses. Prior to coming to San Jacinto College, Dr. Duston was employed as an Environmental Scientist and Engineer/Research Scientist at Rice University, Houston, Texas for 18 years. She continued to work with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rice as an Adjunct Professor and consultant for an additional eight years.

Dr. Duston holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Engineering from Rice University, a M.S. in Microbiology from Texas A&M University, and three B.S. degrees – Microbiology from Texas A&M University and Chemistry and Metallurgical Engineering from The University of Texas at El Paso.