Kate E. Lowry, Ph.D., is the strategy director at the Science Philanthropy Alliance. She joined the Alliance in 2018, first as a fellow and then as the science director. Trained as an oceanographer and earth system scientist, Kate completed her Ph.D. at Stanford University and her postdoctoral fellowship at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Her research focused on studying phytoplankton in polar marine ecosystems using satellite remote sensing and oceanographic fieldwork, including eight expeditions aboard icebreaker research vessels to the Arctic and Antarctica. She has been recognized with a NASA Group Achievement Award, a Scholarly/Academic Achievement Award in earth system science from Stanford University, the Weston Howland Jr. Postdoctoral Fellowship, the Gerald J. Lieberman Fellowship, a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, and service medals from the National Science Foundation and the United States Coast Guard. Kate is an author of more than 25 scientific publications to date.

Prior to obtaining her Ph.D., Kate received her B.S. and M.S. in earth systems at Stanford University. She is a member of the National Leadership Council for the Society of Science, on the board of trustees for the Louisiana School for Math, Science, and Arts Foundation, a mentor for the Peninsula College Fund, and on the steering committee for a project focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion led by the California Ocean Science Trust.