Kate O’Connell

Kate began consulting for AWI in 2011. She represents AWI at key international forums involving marine wildlife protection and applies research and analysis, as well as fluency in multiple languages, to advance AWI’s campaigns to end commercial whaling and reduce bycatch of cetaceans and other nontarget marine species by commercial fisheries.

Kate studied languages and international relations, receiving a BA in international relations and French from Eisenhower College, and a master’s in bilingual/bicultural relations at the University of Connecticut. Her academic career has included time at Cambridge University and the University of Puerto Rico.  She began her 4+ decades of work on behalf of marine wildlife with the Long Term Research Institute (LTRI) in Latin America. At LTRI, she helped draft the Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW) Protocol—a key regional agreement administered by the UN Environment Programme—and helped develop the protocol’s protected species lists.

During her down time, Kate enjoys watching Nordic-language detective shows and playing the bodhrán, a traditional Irish drum. She is currently trying to learn to better speak and understand Dog, with the help of the family’s beloved rescue Sasha, a five-year-old Swedish vallhund-shiba inu mix.