Kate uses mixed ethnographic methods to unravel the intricate relationship between humanity and the natural world. Her work illuminates the ecological, social, and health-related drivers of human-environment interactions in sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically, how people turn to wild plants and animals in times of duress due to climate-change-induced resource scarcity. Her career includes a decade of leadership in field research teams, study abroad programs, and community engagement projects. Drawing on this wealth of expertise, she leads the Amani Foundation in the US and co-leads Amani Initiatives in northern Tanzania, which benefits the community she’s called home since she was a teenager. She believes in decolonialist approaches to participatory research and community engagement as the only pathway to actionable, data-driven solutions. Kate is a Research Assistant Professor at Stony Brook University and an Assistant Research Professor at Penn State University, collaborating with Dr. Sagan Friant.

Beyond this, Kate is a published natural illustrator & cartoonist. As a Wilderness EMT, she loves hiking, trail running, and any excuse to sleep outside under the stars (with a mosquito net).