Kathryn Atherton

Kathryn (Katie) Atherton, a policy associate for both the Clean Energy and Environment Legacy Transition (CELT) Initiative and the Institute for Global Sustainability (IGS) as a whole, translates Boston University research on clean energy and sustainability for non-academic partners and audiences.

She received her MS (’23) and PhD (’25) from the Boston University Bioinformatics Graduate program, where she studied the impact of urbanization on the tree-associated microbiome under Dr. Jennifer Bhatnagar. As a graduate student, Atherton was an URBAN Biogeoscience and Environmental Health trainee, where she became passionate about science policy as a way to bridge science and communities. She interned with Speak for the Trees, Boston, to develop a tool to identify where their tree-planting programs on private property can benefit public streets and sidewalks. Prior to her graduate career, she received her BS in Agricultural and Biological Engineering from Purdue University in 2019.

Outside of work, you might find Atherton catching a movie at an AMC, picking up some books from her ever-growing “to be read” list at the Boston Public Library, or cheering on her favorite sports teams (Liverpool F.C. and any team from her hometown of Chicago).