Kristen Kunkle

Director, Programs Strategy & Impact

“Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.”
– Margaret Mead

Kristen Kunkle is an analytical thinker who loves to find joy in unlikely places. With a deep love for nature, Kristen is passionate about sustaining and restoring the places that have continuously sustained and restored her.

Kristen’s diverse experience working at the nexus of environmental and human systems spans conservation and social impact research, environmental education development and evaluation, coastal ecosystem restoration, marine mammal rescue and rehabilitation, and literary eco-criticism.

With a foot in research, evaluation, and practice (if she had three feet), Kristen joined DoGoodery with a strong interest in connecting dots across disciplines and building effective collaborations to advance environmental conservation and social equity.

As the Director of Programs + Impact Strategy, Kristen works across DoGoodery’s client portfolio to design research-driven impact strategies, manage program planning and evaluations, and increase collaboration and network engagement. She also
serves as a Consultant for Blue Lotus Consulting & Evaluation, supporting environmental education program evaluation, capacity building, and network analysis at the community and state level.

Prior to joining DoGoodery, Kristen served as the Research & Program Manager for the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE), overseeing research-to-practice programs and evaluation capacity building initiatives with university partners at Stanford, Duke, UF, and UC–Davis and federal partners at NOAA, US EPA, US Forest Service, and US Fish & Wildlife Service.

With a Master of Science in the Human Dimensions of Environmental Conservation and a Bachelor of Arts in Modern Literature and Cultural Anthropology, both from the University of Florida, Kristen is passionate about understanding the complexities of human societies and behaviors as a pathway for moving people toward a more sustainable future. Her Master’s research applied work in social psychology to test methods for engaging people in productive dialogue about polarizing scientific issues.

Before diving into research and evaluation, Kristen worked primarily as a Master Naturalist and environmental educator focused on community-based ecosystem restoration in coastal Florida and aided in the development and evaluation of Project Learning Tree’s award-winning curriculum, Southeastern Forests and Climate Change.

In her spare time, you can find Kristen enjoying any and all water activities, biking, overthinking pretty much everything, and weightlifting.

Headshot of Kristen Kunkle