Kate is a Senior Research Fellow with the Cowen Institute, a core fellow with the Newcomb Institute, and a Cohort 9 Fellow with Harvard University's Strategic Data Project. Her areas of interest include qualitative and mixed-methods research, data visualization, research ethics, and making educational systems more equitable for excluded populations.

Prior to joining the Cowen Institute, Kate earned her MSc in Applied Social Research and her PhD in Social Policy in 2014 from Trinity College, Dublin. Her postdoctoral work was with the Dublin Institute of Technology. Her academic research focused on immigration and social integration in elementary schools in Dublin. Prior to that, she earned a Bachelor's in Philosophy from Loyola University in 2006.

Kate is a current graphic design student in Tulane’s School of Professional Advancement and teaches a module on Qualitative Research Methods for the Harvard University Strategic Data Project. She is forever interested in the intersection between data, design, and the democratization of information.