Kari Craun, is currently chief of the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Central Region NSDI Partnership Office in Rolla, Missouri, and president of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS).  She previously served as chief of the USGS Mid-Continent Mapping Center (MCMC) where she was responsible for a workforce of 230 employees, government and contract, with the broad mission of ensuring relevant base geospatial data availability for the United States.  As part of this mission, MCMC is responsible for managing the USGS’ cartographic and geographic services contract, as well as contracts to support acquisition of commercially available, remotely sensed data.  Craun has been at MCMC since 1994 and was named Chief in 2001. 

Prior to her tenure at MCMC, Craun was located at the USGS National Mapping Division Headquarters office in Reston, Virginia.  Before joining the USGS in 1988, she worked for the Defense Mapping Agency in San Antonio, Texas and Brookmont, Maryland .       

Kari joined ASPRS as a graduate student in 1987.  She has been actively involved in the ASPRS Central (formerly Rolla) Region as president in 2001 and is now serving as the Region’s National Director.  She co-chaired the 2001 ASPRS annual conference in St. Louis and currently chairs the ASPRS Convention Policy and Planning Committee.  Craun was elected by the National Board of Directors to serve on the ASPRS Executive Committee in 2002. 

Kari received a BS degree in Geology from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1984 and an MS degree in Photogrammetry from Purdue University in 1987.  She resides in Rolla, Missouri with her husband, Jeff, and two daughters, Zoey and Natalie.