Katherine Reedy

Biography

I received my PhD from the University of Cambridge (Pembroke College) in Social Anthropology in 2004. Raised on a farm in Idaho, I am lucky to work in my home state doing what I love. I am split between my home in Idaho and my research home in Alaska, frequently traveling all over the state on various projects and currently serving on the Scientific and Statistical Committee of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. I am raising two sons in Pocatello, and we are avid downhill skiers, hikers, fishermen, and budding snowmobilers.

Research Interest

My research focuses on Arctic human-environment interactions generally and more specifically on the ethnography of Aleut/Unangax and Alutiit of the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands of Alaska. I primarily investigate the role of role of traditional commercial and subsistence economies in the construction and maintenance of Aleut/Unangan identity and community sustainability. As an applied ecological and political anthropologist, I conduct projects on Aleut culture and history, subsistence and political ecology, food security, commercial fisheries development, oil and gas development surrounding coastal communities, and social impact assessments of environmental and fisheries policymaking on Alaska Native villages. I am currently conducting an extensive federally-funded subsistence project in four Aleutian villages that examines subsistence access, management, social networks of food sharing, and food security.