Katie Peterson is an environmental scientist for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Water Power Research and Development Group. She is involved in the Resource Characterization project, supporting data management, siting of buoys, and is the lead on the Marine Energy Atlas.

She is also the NREL project manager on the multi-lab PRIMRE project, and is assisting in data analysis and providing environmental science expertise in other projects at NREL.

Her background spans quantitative ecology, fisheries management, marine spatial planning, and field work in various ecosystems (coral reef, wetlands, grasslands).

Research Interests

Oceanography

Marine biology

Sustainable management

Socio-environmental systems

Education

Ph.D., Marine Biology, James Cook University

MESM, Marine Resource Management, Bren School at University of California, Santa Barbara

B.Sc., Marine Biology, Louisiana State University

B.Sc., Coastal Environmental Science, Louisiana State University

Professional Experience

Project Manager II, NREL (April–December 2022)

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (2020–2022)

Wetlands Biologist, Coastal Estuary Services (2010–2012)