Katharine started at the EFGL in the fall of 2018.  A brief bio from Katharine is below:

I grew up near the Smoky Mountains in East Tennessee, but bewilderingly, wanted to be a marine biologist since 4th grade.  This passion led me to get my marine science undergraduate degree at the University of South Carolina, where I began working in a conservation genetics lab that focused on aquatic and marine species.  My studies led me to a PhD in Genetics at the University of California, Davis, where I conducted my research at Bodega Marine Lab on the effect of hatchery supplementation on the genetic diversity of the wild population of white seabass.  After my PhD, my path veered toward the deep sea where I conducted research on the population connectivity of the hydrothermal vent worm, Riftia pachyptila between vent systems along the East Pacific Rise and other projects developing microsatellite markers to uncover phylogenetic and population genetic relationships of Anomuran crabs (squat lobsters!) and methane seep mussels and their bacterial symbionts.  I look forward to getting back to my conservation genetics roots and applying the skills I’ve developed (and learning more!) to discover sex determining loci and performing genetic stock identifications of important Pacific Northwest aquatic species.

Outside of work, I write for The Molecular Ecologist science blog, ferret out trivia nights, hike, tube lazy rivers, and road bike when the weather is fair and the road is mostly flat.  I have found being in or near the ocean and the Appalachians to be my happy places, but so far, Boise and the wilds surroundings have plenty of contentment to offer.