Professor Katherine Richardson holds a position in Biological Oceanography within the Section for Biodiversity at the Globe Institute, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen. She is also the Leader of the University of Copenhagen’s Sustainability Science Centre. Additionally, she serves as an Adjunct Senior Researcher at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in Boothbay, Maine, USA.

Her research primarily focuses on understanding the role of biological processes and biodiversity in the upper ocean concerning the cycling of carbon and its impacts on food webs and the global carbon cycle. Currently, she leads the Queen Margrethe and Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Ocean, Climate, and Society.

Prof. Katherine Richardson's research background has predominantly been in the field of marine plankton, with a particular emphasis on phytoplankton. However, her work has extended to the study of higher trophic levels, including fish (both larvae and adults) and even harbour porpoises. She also holds the role of co-Principal Investigator in The Center for Macroecology, Evolution, and Climate, which is supported by the Danish National Research Foundation, with Carsten Rahbek as the center leader.