Kathryn Smith

Kathryn Smith

Project Manager

Dr. Kathryn (Katy) Smith is a project manager at Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute on the Strategic Conservation Policy and Planning team. Katy is currently the Department of Defense (DoD) liaison for America’s Longleaf Restoration Initiative (ALRI), a collaborative restoration and conservation partnership, where she provides coordination for the needs of the partnership and assists in the development of strategic conservation planning for the restoration of longleaf pine ecosystems in the Southeastern U.S. Outside of ALRI, Katy helps develop innovative conservation strategies and regulatory solutions for complex threatened, endangered, and other at-risk species’ conservation challenges. A large focus of her work is to increase flexibility for military mission activities while simultaneously advancing conservation and recovery of species on both public and private lands.

Katy earned a Bachelor of Science in biology from the University of Central Arkansas and a Master of Science in wildlife and conservation from Texas A&M University-Commerce. She then completed her Doctorate in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences from Texas A&M University in 2016. Katy originally began working for the Institute in 2008 as a graduate research assistant conducting research on black-capped vireo and golden-cheeked warbler ecology and conservation. Since then, she has worked for the Institute developing natural resource planning assistance for military installations, writing Species Status Assessments for the USFWS, and overseeing ESA-related conservation planning projects that have allowed her to integrate her ecology and policy background.

Katy currently lives in Arkansas with her daughter, Juniper. In her free time, she enjoys hiking with her dogs, birding, and promoting the building of a local library in her small community.