Kathryn Matthews - Oceana Chile
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Kathryn Matthews

Chief Scientist

Executive Committee

Katie joined Oceana in 2016 and has served as Chief Scientist since 2019.

She’s responsible for ensuring that Oceana’s advocacy is informed by the best and most current scientific understanding, as well as tracking emerging issues, advising on strategic direction, and supporting the 50+ staff scientists across the organization’s offices in twelve fishing nations.

She oversees Oceana’s co-chairing of the Coalition for Fisheries Transparency, as well as the monitoring and evaluation program. Her varied work environments have included Arctic ice caps, Capitol Hill, international treaty negotiations, and the waters of the eastern tropical Pacific.  After 10 years in research, she returned to Washington DC, her hometown, to work as a legislative fellow in the U.S. Congress and then for the Office of Marine Conservation in the U.S. State Department.  Katie continued her science-based policy work with the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation and then with The Pew Charitable Trusts, where she ran a marine conservation and sustainable fisheries grantmaking program. She also served on the Society for Conservation Biology’s Board of Governors, heading its Marine Section’s board of directors as president (2017-2019). She has an M.Sc. and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in Earth and Environmental Science.