Kate is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in the Department of Oceanography. Working in the lab of Dr. Erica Goetze, Kate’s current research focuses on designing molecular, DNA-based techniques to identify and quantify marine zooplankton (microscopic animals that live in the water column). Kate’s research to date has focused on zooplankton in coral-reef food webs, exploring dynamics of both plankton and the reef fish that specialize in feeding on plankton. On this cruise, Kate will be investigating the prevalence of fluorescent, or ‘glowing’, proteins in zooplankton.

Kate completed her undergraduate studies in Marine Biology at the University of California, Los Angeles and holds a Ph.D. in Biological Oceanography from Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Prior to her arrival in Hawaii, Kate held a postdoctoral fellowship at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, where she worked with the museum’s Center for Biodiversity and Conservation.

Cruises: