Karen Grove received her BS in Geology from the University of Maryland in 1983, where she completed an undergraduate thesis in structural geology. In 1989 she received her PhD in Geology from Stanford University, where she studied Late Cretaceous sedimentation and tectonics in west-central California. After beginning her faculty position in the Department of Geosciences (now Earth & Climate Sciences) at San Francisco State University, Karen studied more recent sediments in active fault zones, focusing on the tectonic evolution of Point Reyes and other parts of the Bay Area.