Alumna Profile: Katie Geddes (MAA 2016)

Katie Geddes is a graduate of the M.A.A program (2016) and current Knauss Marine Policy Fellow at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).  At NOAA, Katie works in the Oceanic and Atmospheric Research division where she is a Foreign Affairs Fellow.  In this role, Katie engages in international diplomacy and facilitates international collaboration and partnerships throughout NOAA and its national and international counterparts to advance oceanic, atmospheric, and climate observations research around the world.
While at UMD, Katie pursued the Anthropology of Environment research concentration through which she spearheaded a study of fishermen engagement in Chesapeake Bay restoration initiatives.  She collaborated with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation to mediate between watermen and environmentalist communities to promote collaborative learning and knowledge sharing among Chesapeake Bay stakeholders with competing priorities.  She used the transition from the wild eastern oyster (C. virginica) fishery to oyster aquaculture in the region as a case study of how stakeholder mediation can lead to better informed policy outcomes.
In her final semester of graduate study, Katie interned full time at the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) on the Conservation and Wildlife team.  In this position, Katie worked on a range of topics from the Executive Order on Chesapeake Bay restoration, the Endangered Species Act, ecosystem services, tribal issues, and others.  After graduation, Katie served as a community organizer for the North Carolina Democratic Party during the general election to further hone her political training and knowledge of grassroots organizing.  These experiences led Katie to strive to use her knowledge of and passion for community-level engagement and environmental justice to influence high-level policy throughout her career.  She hopes to continue to engage in the science-policy interface, capacity building, and the nexus of environmental and sustainable development goals. 
In addition to these experiences, Katie participated in the School of Public Policy’s Socio-Ecological Systems, Environmental Policy, and Sustainable Development of Indonesia study abroad course; served as a teaching assistant for ANTH222: Introduction to Ecological and Evolutionary Anthropology; and guest edited an issue of Practicing Anthropology.  She is presently a member of the Washington Association of Professional Anthropologists (WAPA) and The DC Women’s Aquatic Network.

Find Katie on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-geddes-0785525a.

B.S. Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology 2013
M.A. Applied Anthropology, University of Maryland 2016

Photo Caption
Katie and NOAA colleagues represent the United States at a trilateral meeting between the United States, Canada, and the European Union to promote Atlantic Ocean research cooperation under the Galway Statement.
 

Published on Fri, 04/14/2017 - 08:43