Katie Cramer

Katie Cramer is a Research Professor at Arizona State University’s Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability and a Research Associate Professor in the School of Life Sciences. She leads the Coral Reef Conservation Program at the Center for Biodiversity Outcomes and serves as a Senior Global Futures Scientist. Her roles include Program Lead for Coral Reef Conservation and affiliation with ASU’s Water Institute. She is also an Ocean Science Fellow at Conservation International and a National Geographic Explorer.

Education: Ph.D. in Oceanography (Scripps Institution of Oceanography), MS in Marine Biology (Scripps), and BS in Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution (UC San Diego). Her research spans marine conservation ecology, coral reef decline mechanisms, and interdisciplinary strategies for sustainable fisheries. She combines paleobiological methods with modern ecological data to inform conservation policy.

Research focuses on reconstructing long-term coral reef ecosystem changes, identifying social-ecological drivers of decline, and promoting community-driven conservation. Her work integrates marine ecology, fisheries science, and policy, addressing topics like micronutrient availability in reef fish, historical overfishing impacts, and coral reef accretion dynamics.

Affiliations include the Smithsonian Institution, Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, and the U.S. Senate Knauss Fellowship. She leads the Katie Cramer Lab, studying coral reef social-ecological systems and collaborating with global partners. Her research emphasizes actionable solutions for coral reef sustainability and food security in reef-dependent communities.