Kat is a native of northwest Ohio, but spent time living in Buffalo, Nashville, and Houston before returning home to the wonders of the Great Lakes and the Great Black Swamp. She has a BA in Political Science from Houghton College and a BS in Geology/Hydrogeology from BGSU and is a current master’s student in Geology at BGSU. Her research interests include mitigating nutrient runoff from agricultural sources, biogeochemical processes in wetlands, and wetlands restoration.

Kat is also an Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalist (OCVN) through the Wood County Park District. She is passionate about place-based education and citizen science and hopes to spend her career improving water quality in the Lake Erie watershed by building coalitions around science-based interventions.

She lives in Bowling Green, where she, her three kids, and two dogs spend as much time as possible outside exploring new parks as well as old favorites.  They especially enjoy camping, archery, snowshoeing, biking, exploring the Oak Openings sand dunes, and visiting the Lake Erie beaches all year round.