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Department of Biology College of Arts and Sciences

Kathleen E. Fischer

Kathleen E. Fischer headshot.

Research Adjunct Professor fischerk@uab.edu

Research and Teaching Interests: Biology of Aging, Sex Differences, Evolution, Ecology, Animal Behavior and Conservation.

Office Hours: By appointment

Education:

  • B.S., University of California Santa Cruz, Biology and Environmental Studies
  • Graduate Certificate, University of California Santa Cruz, Science Writing
  • M.A., Harvard, Anthropology
  • Ph.D., Harvard, Biology and Anthropology

Dr. Fischer studied rainforest canopy ecology in the remote mountains of Papua New Guinea (PNG), where she worked for five years with local villagers and mining companies to establish the Mekil wildlife management area and research station on Mount Stolle. Following her work in PNG, the Wildlife Conservation Society asked her to conduct a marine survey of Lampi Island in Myanmar. The survey resulted in a management plan for the Mergui Archipelago designed to protect natural resources and the traditional subsistence and artisanal resource use of the nomadic Moken people who live in the region.

While working at the Christensen Fund, Dr. Fischer helped to establish the endowment for the Christensen Fellowship at WCS, helped endow a similar fellowship program at the Missouri Botanical Garden and helped secure bridge funding for the Conservation and Research Center at the National Zoo. She has also worked on conservation and resources use issues in in the United States, most recently working for the Yurok Tribe. Dr. Fischer returned to aging research in 2010, when she joined the Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Research. She joined the Department of Biology in 2014.

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