Our Mission
Oko Environmental is dedicated to increasing environmental literacy and public awareness through independent research, community engagement, and clear communication. By interpreting scientific and technical information into everyday language, Oko Environmental helps residents, local leaders, and educators understand complex environmental issues and make informed decisions for their communities.
What We Do
Oko Environmental provides independent research, public communication, and educational outreach to help communities understand environmental issues that affect their land, water, and quality of life. All work is offered for informational and educational purposes only. Oko Environmental does not provide legal or regulatory consulting services, but rather focuses on helping residents and decision-makers access clear, factual information they can use to make informed choices.
- Independent Research – Reviewing environmental data, site reports, and public documents to identify what’s at stake for local land, air, and water.
- Community Communication – Creating plain-language reports, visual materials, and presentations that make environmental information accessible and shareable.
- Education and Outreach – Hosting community meetings, fact-finding sessions, and workshops that invite participation and build understanding.
- Speaking and Consultation – Available for one-on-one conversations, classroom visits, and public events to help explain environmental topics in ways that connect science to everyday life.
Community Support & Funding
Oko Environmental relies on community support to keep environmental research and education independent, accessible, and relevant to local needs. This work continues because people value open communication, local science, and informed decision-making in their communities.
Monthly sponsorships and one-time donations are not tax-deductible, but they directly support field research, educational resources, and public communication. Every contribution helps keep science within reach and ensures that independent, local environmental information remains available to everyone.
Oko Environmental is structured as an independent LLC rather than a nonprofit to protect the integrity of its work. This structure allows research and reporting to remain free from institutional or donor influence, ensuring that findings are guided by science—not by sponsors, politics, or special interests.
Operating as an LLC also provides flexibility to respond quickly to community needs, pursue projects based on relevance rather than funding priorities, and maintain complete transparency in how work is conducted and shared. This approach ensures that Oko Environmental remains accountable only to the facts and to the people it serves.
Community support makes this independence possible. Each person who contributes helps preserve the ability to ask hard questions, follow the data wherever it leads, and share information openly for the benefit of everyone. Please consider supporting Oko Environmental
About The Founder
Oko Environmental was founded by Kara Okonewski, an environmental educator and researcher with experience in wildlife studies, data analysis, and community engagement. Through her work in science and education, she recognized a growing gap between complex environmental information and the people most affected by it.
Too often, technical reports and policy documents are written in ways that are difficult for the public to interpret—leaving communities without clear, practical insight into the environmental issues that shape their daily lives. Oko Environmental was created to bridge that gap by making science approachable, factual, and relevant to local decision-making.