Growing up, Katie spent much of her time outdoors with her family camping, horseback riding, canoeing and fishing. She feels lucky to now live in southern Alberta, Treaty 7 Territory, in the heart of world-class flyfishing rivers and streams, and she spends her summers traveling in her converted minivan camper or backpacking into the mountains, chasing native westslope cutthroat trout. She also loves crunching through the fall leaves and snow in pursuit of white-tailed deer and attempting to find upland birds with her non-hunting dog.

When she's not hunting or fishing, you can find her digging up yet another section of her yard to accommodate her ever-expanding garden or drying, freezing, preserving and cooking the abundance of foods harvested from the backcountry and the backyard.

Katie’s early connection to the natural world motivated her to obtain a B.Sc. in environmental and conservation sciences from the University of Alberta and a master's of environmental design from the University of Calgary, combining her love of both natural and social sciences. Katie has worked in biology and conservation for more than 20 years and now spends her days working on the protection and management of Southern Alberta’s wild lands and waters.