Dr. Kathleen Boomer joined the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) as a scientific program director in July 2019 and is responsible for developing programs in the Sustaining Vibrant Agroecosystems Research Priority Area, specializing in sustainable water management. Boomer has extensive experience in landscape modeling and watershed research and a passion for advancing science-based decision-making in resource management.
Before joining FFAR, Boomer served as the lead watershed scientist for the Nature Conservancy’s Chesapeake Bay Project. She led numerous research partnerships to engage stakeholders and advance targeted agricultural and urban conservation practices. Boomer also worked in China as a monitoring consultant for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Earlier in her career, she worked with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center as a geospatial ecologist. In this capacity, she investigated ecosystems services provided by a range of terrestrial, wetland and coastal habitats. She continues to serve on the Executive Board of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Chesapeake Bay Program’s Scientific Technical Advisory Committee.
Boomer received her bachelor’s degree in natural resources, her master’s degree in wetland ecology and her doctorate degree in biogeochemistry all from Cornell University.