Karen Pilant works on proposal development for projects in the areas of engineering education and multi-institutional partnerships to increase the numbers of U.S. engineering and science graduates. She is involved with the TEES New Faculty Initiative and interacts with junior faculty at TEES regional divisions in strategic planning for funding opportunities, particularly at NSF. Among other projects, she was on the SRD team for a CREST proposal that resulted in a $5 million grant, and lead on a STEP proposal that was awarded $1 million.

Karen joined the TEES Strategic Development Office in 2005 after more than 13 years with Engineering Communications, as a science writer and then as assistant director. Previously, she was an editor with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, and an assistant editor with the Department of Agricultural Communications and the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station. Karen has also been a freelance editorial consultant for several A&M departments (oceanography; wildlife and fisheries sciences; agricultural economics) and for the university’s Thesis Clerk office. She has a B.A. in English from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.