Exploring the Writing of
Karen Telleen-Lawton

Exploring the Writing of
Karen Telleen-Lawton

Karen Telleen-Lawton writes to understand the environment around her. Her aspiration is to be persuasive, stimulating, entertaining, and sometimes provocative. Nature is her most influential teacher.

Published Most Recently

  • Animals Out of Control

    Read it in Noozhawk

    August 19, 2024

    By Karen Telleen-Lawton

    A few days into the Olympics I was frustrated with the coverage. I wanted a variety of events without consigning myself to a part-time job as a couch-potato. The highlights coverage started at 8 o’clock, but I…Read the rest

    Reading Time: 3 MIN

Canyon Voices - Writings from Rattlesnake Canyon

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED ARTICLES BOOK: CANYON VOICES THE VOICE 

COMMUNITY•ECONOMICS•ENVIRONMENT

Plastic Free July

JULY 13, 2020 BY KAREN TELLEEN-LAWTON NO COMMENTS 

By Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist
The ubiquity of plastics made its greatest impression on me five years ago on a visit to Easter Island. Twenty-one hundred miles west of mainland Chile, it is one of the most remote inhabited places on earth.… Read the rest 

READING TIME: 3 MIN

COMMUNITY•HEALTH & FITNESS•JUSTICE

The Library

JUNE 29, 2020, BY KAREN TELLEEN-LAWTON NO COMMENTS 

By Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist Published: June 29, 2020 4:00 p.m.

The public library was my first love outside the family. My relationship mirrored what Susan Orlean describes in “The Library Book”: “I loved wandering around the bookshelves, scanning the spines until something happened to catch my eye.… Read the rest

READING TIME: 3 MIN

BIODIVERSITY•CLIMATE

EMERGENCY•ECONOMICS•ENVIRONMENT•JUSTICE•UNCATEGORIZED

Triple Emergencies II

JUNE 1, 2020 BY KAREN TELLEEN-LAWTON NO COMMENTS

By Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist June 1, 2020

In the last column, I wrote about the co-incident and related global emergencies of pandemics, climate change, and biodiversity loss. A friend asked me to help her understand the relationship. I struggled a bit to provide a clear explanation.… Read the rest

COMMUNITY•ECONOMICS
•JUSTICE•UNCATEGORIZED

Black Lives Matter

JUNE 29, 2020, BY KAREN TELLEEN-LAWTON NO COMMENTS 

By Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist June 15, 2020

Last week, my email teemed with what I feared were mere platitudes about Black Lives Matter from

organizations with which I’m involved. Everyone is “sorry,” no one “has been doing enough.”… Read the rest

READING TIME: 4 MIN

RECENTLY PUBLISHED

Canyon Voices - Writings from Rattlesnake Canyon

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED ARTICLES BOOK: CANYON VOICES THE VOICE 

COMMUNITY•ECONOMICS•ENVIRONMENT

Plastic Free July

JULY 13, 2020 BY KAREN TELLEEN-LAWTON NO COMMENTS 

By Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist
The ubiquity of plastics made its greatest impression on me five years ago on a visit to Easter Island. Twenty-one hundred miles west of mainland Chile, it is one of the most remote inhabited places on earth.… Read the rest 

READING TIME: 3 MIN

COMMUNITY•HEALTH & FITNESS•JUSTICE

The Library

JUNE 29, 2020, BY KAREN TELLEEN-LAWTON NO COMMENTS 

By Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist Published: June 29, 2020 4:00 p.m.

The public library was my first love outside the family. My relationship mirrored what Susan Orlean describes in “The Library Book”: “I loved wandering around the bookshelves, scanning the spines until something happened to catch my eye.… Read the rest

READING TIME: 3 MIN

BIODIVERSITY•CLIMATE

EMERGENCY•ECONOMICS•ENVIRONMENT•JUSTICE•UNCATEGORIZED

Triple Emergencies II

JUNE 1, 2020 BY KAREN TELLEEN-LAWTON NO COMMENTS

By Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist June 1, 2020

In the last column, I wrote about the co-incident and related global emergencies of pandemics, climate change, and biodiversity loss. A friend asked me to help her understand the relationship. I struggled a bit to provide a clear explanation.… Read the rest

COMMUNITY•ECONOMICS
•JUSTICE•UNCATEGORIZED

Black Lives Matter

JUNE 29, 2020, BY KAREN TELLEEN-LAWTON NO COMMENTS 

By Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist June 15, 2020

Last week, my email teemed with what I feared were mere platitudes about Black Lives Matter from

organizations with which I’m involved. Everyone is “sorry,” no one “has been doing enough.”… Read the rest

READING TIME: 4 MIN

Search other writings by Karen Telleen-Lawton.

Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist

ktl@canyonvoices.com
Karen Telleen-Lawton is an eco-writer sharing information and insights about economics and ecology, finances, and the environment. Having recently retired from financial planning and advising, she spends more time exploring the outdoors — and reading and writing about it. The opinions expressed are her own.

A variety of experiences over many (!) decades have influenced her views. Telleen-Lawton holds an undergraduate engineering degree from Stanford University as well as graduate degrees and certificates in environmental policy, economics, business administration and financial planning.

Until her retirement in 2022, Telleen-Lawton was the principal of Decisive Path Fee-only Financial Advisory. She writes regular articles on environmental, economic, and financial planning issues in local, regional, and national publications such as Santa Barbara’s Noozhawk, Stanford Magazine, and a national senior writing syndicate. Her book, Canyon Voices – the Nature of Rattlesnake Canyon, was published by Mission Creek Publishing in 2007. Inspirational writer for her work include John McPhee, Anne, Terry, etc . . . [I’ll look on by bookshelf]

Telleen-Lawton’s volunteer activities include various board and committee functions at All Saints-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, Channel Islands Nationalist Corps, and PSC Partners Seeking a Cure. She was a proud saxophonist with Prime Time Band for seven years before passing her horn to her granddaughter. Her most important influence and best friend for the past 47 years is her husband David.