Katherine French

Katherine French has a diverse work experience spanning multiple roles and industries. Katherine is currently the Founder/CEO of BLUUMBIO, a position they have held since May 2021. Prior to that, they worked as an Activate Fellow at Activate starting in 2022.

In terms of research positions, Katherine was a Postdoctoral Research Scientist at the Joint BioEnergy Institute from November 2020 to May 2021. Before that, they held a similar role at the University of California, Berkeley from July 2018 to July 2020. At UC Berkeley, they specialized in engineering bacteria and plants for environmental remediation of petroleum hydrocarbons, including leading a research program for the remediation of a former Shell Oil refinery.

Katherine has also held research positions at the University of Oxford and served as a Lecturer in Biology at Wadham College. During their time at Oxford, they worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Plant Sciences, focusing on developing a carbon nanoparticle system for cell imaging and transformation. Katherine also served as a Lab Demonstrator, Subject Tutor, and Research Scientist at the university, specifically in the fields of maize and yeast genetics.

Outside of academia, Katherine had a role as an Ethnobotanist from June 2013 to March 2015 at the University of Oxford. Katherine also gained administrative experience as a Junior Dean at Trinity College Oxford, where they were responsible for the academic and emotional welfare of undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Overall, Katherine French has a strong background in research, with expertise in environmental remediation, genetic engineering, and plant sciences. Additionally, they have experience in leadership, teaching, and student welfare.

Katherine French completed their Bachelor's degree at Boston University from 2006 to 2010. Katherine then pursued a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Environmental Archaeology at the University of Oxford from 2012 to 2013. Later, they obtained a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Plant Sciences from the University of Oxford between 2013 and 2016. In 2015, they attended SLU - Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences for a short period to study Plant Genetics. In 2016, they briefly studied Plant Genetics at Københavns Universitet - University of Copenhagen.