Karen Osborn
Karen Joyce Osborn (born January 29, 1974) is a marine scientist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History Invertebrate Zoology department. She is known for her work in marine biology specializing in mid-water invertebrates.[1] Early life and educationDuring her time in high school, Osborn was interested in biology. She did not know what she wanted to study in college, but she knew she wanted to study something related to biology. At Andrews University Osborn was interested in biology and took a year long introductory course into the subject to find out what topic she was most interested in. She took a year off from college to teach in Micronesia. During her time in Micronesia she scuba dived often and became fascinated with the amount of diversity that existed in the coral reefs. She decided to study invertebrates like the ones she saw there. When she returned to college she graduated with a BS in Zoology and a minor in Chemistry. In 1999 she received her masters of science in biology from Western Washington University.[2] For two years following this she worked at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute as a research technician. This is when she began to be interested in the midwater.[3] In 2007 she graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a Ph.D. in Integrative Biology. She completed her post doc at Scripps Institute of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego.[4] Career and researchIn 2011, she became an Associate Curator at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in the invertebrate zoology department.[5] Now at the National Museum of Natural History she focuses her research on marine invertebrates living in the mid water level of the ocean. She is interested in how these invertebrates have adapted to living in this environment. She enjoys incorporating art into her work and has helped train many people to make scientific illustrations. She helped create the National Museum of Natural History's exhibit called Life in One Cubic Foot, which explored the biodiversity that could be found in one cubic foot anywhere in the world, and other exhibits. She also helps organize polychaete day at the museum, an event to teach the public about polychaetes and their living environments.[6] Select publications
References
|