Barbara Karn is an environmental scientist at the US EPA Office of Research and Development where she works in nanotechnology and the environment. She also holds the position of nanotechnology scholar in the Program for Science in the Public Interest at Georgetown University.

She spent a year as visiting scientist for the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Her focus is “Green” nanotechnologies – including using green chemistry, green engineering, and environmentally benign manufacturing to make new nanomaterials and products, or using nanotechnology to prevent pollution in current processes.

Karn holds a Ph.D. from Florida International University in marine ecology with emphasis on the kinetics of nutrient cycling and a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Ohio State University.

• Green Nanotechnology: A Path to Sustainability? (July 12, 2007)