Katherine started her wildlife career as a field technician with the gopher tortoise population at Camp Blanding nearly 20 years ago. She earned a bachelor's degree in wildlife conservation and ecology and a master's degree in environmental education from the University of Florida. After teaching high school science for a few years, she returned to her alma mater to receive her PhD in Infectious Diseases and Pathology, where she studied parasites of wildlife at the urban/suburban - wildlife interface.

After several years in academia conducting wildlife disease research in Florida and southern Africa, she took a position with Florida's wildlife agency, The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), performing risk evaluations for emerging zoonotic and wildlife diseases. Most recently, she acted as the Nonnative Rules and Risk Coordinator for FWC. In her new role at Defenders, she hopes to advocate for lasting, science-based policies and enduring protections for Florida's most vulnerable wildlife.