As the Senior Community Development Officer, Kate provides programming support for the Island Institute's Sea Level Rise, ILEAD, and Island Fellows Teams and designs the scope and direction of the organization's education and leadership programming. In addition, she provides administrative support to the co-chairs of the Maine Islands Coalition and is the institutional liaison for the Great Lakes Islands Coalition.

A native of Vermont, Kate spent three years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the South Pacific country of Vanuatu, facilitating community marine conservation efforts, before joining the Island Institute staff in 2013 as the Community Development Associate, where she oversaw the day-to-day management and recruitment for the Island Fellows program. Kate holds a B.S. in Marine Biology from the University of New England and an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts.