Mary Kay Camarillo received her BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Washington. After graduation she worked in industry for seven years planning, designing, and providing construction services for water and wastewater conveyance and treatment facilities. She then completed both MS and PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Davis. She is an active collaborator in the Ecological Engineering Research Program. She has worked on projects related to biomass energy, water quality in the San Joaquin River, and environmental impacts of oil/gas production. Her scholarly work focuses on environmental issues in California.