Katherine Krolikowski

Doctor Krolikowski calls herself “an evangelist for science.”

Before coming to CCC, she worked as a research scientist, and earned bachelors’ degrees in biology and philosophy from Rice University, as well as a Ph.D. from Harvard.

At CCC, she has spearheaded the USDA Scholars Grant Program, which provides biotech training and paid internships for students with our Center for Science Excellence; the Soil Microbiome Project, which gives student research, analysis and job experience; and the HUB, a shared space in which students can benefit from the support, expertise and guidance of multiple faculty and counselors at once, through office hours and educational planning sessions.

Katie loves working with her students, and takes special care to make sure they see themselves as potential scientists. “We serve a particular group of students who are aware of different things in the world than the person on the traditional bachelor’s degree pathway,” she explains. “They have broader experience and also [often] an understanding of real needs in the world… They are very tuned-in to the practicality of science and really whether things are truly useful.”

“Science will be changed,” she believes, “when people from under-served communities make up a substantial proportion of the scientific community.”

Off-campus, Katie loves biking, hiking, fishing and the outdoors in general. She is particularly proud of her garden, where she and her wife grow some of their own food.

She is also a proficient musician, who plays the clarinet, bass and tenor sax with the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band, and only recently picked up alto sax to play with the Albany Big Band.