Catherine K. King is an Australian ecotoxicologist who studies

sub-Antarctic The sub-Antarctic zone is a region in the Southern Hemisphere, located immediately north of the Antarctic region. This translates roughly to a latitude of between 46° and 60° south of the Equator. The subantarctic region includes many islands ...

and

Antarctic The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and other ...

regions, with a focus on

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

and the impacts of contaminants and environmental stressors in terrestrial and

marine ecosystem Marine ecosystems are the largest of Earth's aquatic ecosystems and exist in waters that have a high salt content. These systems contrast with freshwater ecosystems, which have a lower salt content. Marine waters cover more than 70% of the surf ...

Career and impact

She has supervised over 30 postgraduate research students. King's multi-disciplinary ecotoxicology research program focuses on the

ecotoxicity Ecotoxicity, the subject of study in the field of ecotoxicology (a portmanteau of ecology and toxicology), refers to the biological, chemical or physical stressors that affect ecosystems. Such stressors could occur in the natural environment at ...

of metals, fuels, contaminant mixtures and other environmental stressors associated with a changing climate, on Antarctic and sub-Antarctic species. Her goal is to develop environmental risk assessment and remediation guidelines for Antarctic and sub-Antarctic marine and terrestrial environments. She delivers strategically important robust scientific research, which contributes to evidenced-based decision making in policy and operations, both for the Australian Antarctic program, and the Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP). King has also acted as the Manager of the Science Planning and Coordination section at the

Australian Antarctic Division The Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) is a division of the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. The Division undertakes science programs and research projects to contribute to an understanding of Antarctica and the ...

, which oversees the administration and governance of all projects within the Australian Antarctic science program. This primarily involves the coordination of project applications, assessments, approvals, planning and reporting, as well as providing research, governance and communications for the Science Branch. Previous to her role at the Australian Antarctic Division, King was a post-doctoral researcher at the Centre for Environmental Contaminant Research at

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentar ...

, where her research in ecotoxicology contributed to the ''Handbook for Sediment Quality Assessment'' for Australia (2005). King has been working in Antarctic science since her first summer at

Casey Station Casey Station, commonly called Casey, is one of three permanent stations and research outposts in Antarctica managed by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD). Casey lies on the northern side of the Bailey Peninsula (Antarctica), Bailey Peninsu ...

in 1997 where she worked as part of a team investigating the impact of

leachate A leachate is any liquid that, in the course of passing through matter, extracts soluble or suspended solids, or any other component of the material through which it has passed. Leachate is a widely used term in the environmental sciences wher ...

s from a legacy waste tip and wastewater discharge on nearshore benthic communities.

Awards and honours

King has been a Chief Investigator and Co-investigator on over 20 Australian Antarctic Science (AAS) Research Grants. King received the 2006 CSIRO Medal for Research Achievement, for her research advances in assessment and regulation of contaminants in aquatic sediments. King was part of the CSIRO's Centre for Environmental Contaminants Research (CECR) team that was awarded the Australian Museum Eureka Prize for Water Research in 2006. This was awarded in recognition of the contribution to research advancing the assessment and regulation of contaminants in aquatic sediments. King hosted and was the Conference Chair for the SETAC-AU 2016 Conference held in Hobart.

References

External links

Catherine King's webpage
* {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Catherine Australian women scientists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Australian Antarctic scientists Australian toxicologists Australian ecologists Women ecologists Women Antarctic scientists