Kate Christen is an environmental historian. At the Smithsonian, she provides strategic integration as senior manager of the Conservation Commons, and she leads the Commons' sustainable food systems and capacity development & education focal areas. Previously, at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Catherine developed and coordinated international training courses in conservation science and allied fields. She recently co-authored Sustaining Wildlife Populations in Human Care: An Existential Value Proposition for Zoos for The Ark and Beyond: The Evolution of Zoo and Aquarium Conservation. She co-edited Elephants and Ethics: Toward a Morality of Coexistence, which was awarded the Smithsonian Secretary's Research Prize 2009 and has written about Landsat and ecology research and conservation history in tropical Latin America. She served on Society for Conservation Biology's global Governing Board from 2008 to 2017 and on the Editorial Board of the Public Historian from 2001 to 2008. Catherine received her bachelor's in history from Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges, and her master's degree as well as Ph.D. in history from the Johns Hopkins University.