Karen Kohanowich is a retired U.S. Naval officer and ocean research and technology program manager for the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...

(NOAA)'s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research (OER). She was NOAA's Acting Director of the

National Undersea Research Program The National Undersea Research Program (NURP) is a U.S. government program that operates six facilities for undersea research, including the world's only permanent undersea research facility, Aquarius. The program is operated under the auspices of ...

(NURP) from 2006–2009, and served in various roles at OER, including Acting Deputy and Undersea Technology director, until retiring in 2018. In July 2006, she became an

aquanaut An aquanaut is any person who remains underwater, breathing at the ambient pressure for long enough for the concentration of the inert components of the breathing gas dissolved in the body tissues to reach equilibrium, in a state known as satura ...

on the

NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations, or NEEMO, is a NASA analog mission that sends groups of astronauts, engineers and scientists to live in the Aquarius (laboratory), Aquarius underwater laboratory, the world's only undersea research sta ...

10 ( NEEMO 10) crew. Before NOAA, Kohanowich served as a salvage diving officer and oceanographer in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

for 23 years, retiring at the rank of

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

. Kohanowich later commented, "What really got me into diving was that the standards for women were the same s for men Women had to do the same number of sit-ups and push-ups. They had to climb up and down the dive ladders wearing the same 200-pound Mark V dive system."

Navy career

As a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...

, Kohanowich supported 1000 ft saturation dives at the Navy's Experimental Diving Unit. From 1982 to 1993 she served as a U.S. Navy Salvage Diver, completing Navy Salvage and Mixed Gas Diving School in 1983. From 1986 to 1988 she served as Diving and Operations Officer aboard the salvage ship USS ''Safeguard''. In 1989 Kohanowich became a

National Association of Underwater Instructors The National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI Worldwide) is a non-profit association of scuba instructors. It primarily serves as a recreational dive certification and membership organization established to provide international div ...

instructor. In 1993 she qualified as a pilot of the

submersible A submersible is a small watercraft designed to operate underwater. The term "submersible" is often used to differentiate from other underwater vessels known as submarines, in that a submarine is a fully self-sufficient craft, capable of ind ...

Pisces IV ''Pisces IV'' is a three-person, battery-powered deep-submergence vehicle (or DSV), with a maximum operating depth of . The craft was built by Hyco International Hydrodynamics in Vancouver, and is currently owned by the Hawaii Undersea Research L ...

''. From 1995 to 1997 she was stationed in

Yokosuka, Japan is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 409,478, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city ...

as a Meteorology and Oceanographic (METOC) Officer. From 1997 to 2005, Kohanowich was a Marine Policy Advisor, working with the Oceanographer of the Navy and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Environment) and serving as Navy liaison to NOAA. From 2002 to 2005, she served as Ocean Resources Advisor to the

Assistant Secretary of the Navy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (ASN) is the title given to certain civilian senior officials in the United States Department of the Navy. From 1861 to 1954, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy was the second-highest civilian office in the Depar ...

NOAA and NEEMO

In 2005 Kohanowich retired from the Navy and joined NOAA as the Deputy Director of NURP. She also served as VP for Government and Public Affairs for the

Marine Technology Society The Marine Technology Society (MTS) is a professional society that serves the international community of approximately 3,800 ocean engineers, technologists, policy-makers, and educators. The goal of the society, which was founded in 1963, is to pr ...

from 2005 to 2009. In July 2006, Kohanowich became an

through her participation in the joint

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

-NOAA, NEEMO 10 (NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations) project, an exploration research mission held in

Aquarius Aquarius may refer to: Astrology * Aquarius (astrology), an astrological sign * Age of Aquarius, a time period in the cycle of astrological ages Astronomy * Aquarius (constellation) * Aquarius in Chinese astronomy Arts and entertainme ...

, the world's only undersea research laboratory. Kohanowich and her crewmates lived and worked underwater for seven days. Kohanowich was nicknamed "K2" during the mission.

Education and honors

Kohanowich received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in

Geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...

from

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

in 1982, a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

in Air Ocean Science from the

Naval Postgraduate School The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is a public graduate school operated by the United States Navy and located in Monterey, California. It offers master’s and doctoral degrees in more than 70 fields of study to the U.S. Armed Forces, DOD ci ...

in 1995, and a Master of Science in Environmental Science and Policy from

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

in 2005. She completed her

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

in Environmental Science and Policy at

George Mason University George Mason University (George Mason, Mason, or GMU) is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia with an independent City of Fairfax, Virginia postal address in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. The university was origin ...

in 2016. Her dissertation is entitled "Cousteau to Cameron: A Quadrant Model for Assessment of Undersea Marine Research Infrastructure." http://digilib.gmu.edu/jspui/handle/1920/10601 In March 2011, when Kohanowich gave a

Women's History Month Women's History Month is an annual declared month that highlights the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. It is celebrated during March in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, corresponding with ...

lecture at the

Office of Naval Research The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is an organization within the United States Department of the Navy responsible for the science and technology programs of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. Established by Congress in 1946, its mission is to plan ...

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

Nevin Carr Rear Admiral Nevin Palmer Carr Jr. (born 17 November 1956) is a retired U.S. Navy admiral who served as Chief of Naval Research. Biography Carr graduated in 1979 from the U.S. Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science in naval architecture. He ear ...

commented of Kohanowich: "She is a trailblazer in her field and her achievements are a positive reflection of how important contributions from women have advanced the sciences, and benefitted the Navy." Kohanowich served as Vice President for Government and Public Affairs for the Marine Technology Society from 2005-2010, and as Chair of the Washington, DC Chapter of the Society of Woman Geographers from 2014-2017 She has been a member of the

Women Divers Hall of Fame The Women Divers Hall of Fame (WDHOF) is an international honor society. Its purpose is to honor the accomplishments of women divers, and their contributions to various fields of underwater diving. Full membership is restricted to nominees who h ...

since 2001.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kohanowich, Karen Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American underwater divers Aquanauts Johns Hopkins University alumni National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration personnel Naval Postgraduate School alumni Place of birth missing (living people) Female United States Navy officers Vanderbilt University alumni Female explorers Professional divers Members of the Society of Woman Geographers