Kristen is a broadly trained marine population and community ecologist - interested in understanding the interplay of species’ traits, environmental variability, and population and community dynamics¾with unique experience in and a passion for synthesizing science and applying it to real-world policy and management challenges. She now works as a 2013-2014 AAAS Science & Policy Fellow with the U.S. Department of Energy in Washington DC, while maintaining collaborations with the NOAA/NMFS Large Marine Ecosystem program and ecosystem based fisheries management.
In 2012, Kristen completed her Stanford University PhD in Environment & Resources, researching integrative fisheries management with Dr. Fio Micheli, while simultaneously earning a PhD Minor in Civil & Environmental Engineering, with a dissertation entitled: Aligning Complex, Adaptive Systems Theory and Data-Limited Assessment Strategies for Improved Fisheries Management. Her 2005 Masters degree in Environmental Studies is from the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she worked on multi-species management for endangered California fish like delta smelt and salmon. She completed her undergraduate degree at Stanford in Human Biology in 1997 with an Honor's thesis on introduced mollusks in San Francisco Estuary. The common thread underlying these research topics and degrees is complex, adaptive systems from an ecological perspective. Kristen is a Santa Fe Institute Complex Systems Summer School 2013 alumnus.
In addition to scientific credentials, Kristen is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). She has over 10 years of professional experience working on interdisciplinary teams to address complex environmental issues like: climate change, ocean/estuarine health, habitat loss, invasive species, toxic pollution, and ecosystem resilience. Former employers include NOAA Fisheries, USGS, CALFED, San Francisco Estuary Project, Environmental Defense Fund, and a private consulting firm, Eastern Research Group.
Kristen attributes her love of the environment and oceans to her upbringing in Portland, Maine, and the small island community of Long Island, Maine. In her spare time, Kristen enjoys yoga, hiking/jogging, sailing, SCUBA diving, skiing, travel, and holistic health work with special interest in Lyme disease and Lyme treatments.