Dr. Kate Hubbard, who leads the harmful algal bloom (HAB) monitoring and research program for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWC-FWRI), has recently joined the CCS Advisory Board. She directs FWC’s Center for Red Tide Research which works closely with the Florida HAB Task Force to strengthen and build partnerships across government, academic and private sectors. Recent enhancements to Florida’s HAB monitoring network under her direction have focused on establishing new and sustained biological, chemical, and physical observation capabilities.

As a Co-Investigator of the NSF/NIEHS-funded Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Hubbard is involved in HAB detection and forecasting projects across the US to better understand and predict blooms and their impacts and is committed to working at the interface of research, public health, and management. Her expertise in genomics and ecology has also helped evaluate drivers of HABs and other species in diverse applications including climate change and restoration, and she serves as an External Advisory Committee member for the NSF-funded Maine Environmental DNA EPSCoR program.

She has served on the National HAB Committee since 2017, is a Technical Advisory Council Member for the Florida Red Tide Mitigation and Technology Development Initiative, serves on the Steering Committee for the Water Resources Team as part of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance, and was recently elected to the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System’s Board of Directors. She received her B.A. in Biology from New College of Florida and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Biological Oceanography from the University of Washington. She prioritizes engaging junior scientists in research and communication and is excited about the opportunities to use AI and in situ technology to examine new solutions to applied research questions surrounding coastal water quality.