Dr. Kakani Katija is a Bioengineer, Principal Engineer at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, and a Research Associate at the National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institution). Originally an Aerospace Engineer (BSc from University of Washington and MSc from Caltech), Kakani received a PhD in Bioengineering from the California Institute of Technology. As lead of the Bioinspiration Lab, Kakani and her group investigates ways that imaging can enable novel observations of life in the ocean. By developing imaging and illumination tools (e.g., DeepPIV, Chiton, and EyeRIS), automating the classification of underwater visual data using artificial intelligence (FathomNet), building large-scale community science contributions networks through mobile gaming (FathomVerse), and integrating next-generation algorithms (ML-Tracking, DeepSTARia) on robotic vehicles (e.g. Mesobot, ROVs, and AUVs) to consistently and persistently observe ocean life, her group’s efforts aspire to increase access to biology and related phenomena in the deep sea. Kakani was named a National Geographic Emerging Explorer in 2011, a Kavli Research Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences in 2013, a Frontiers of Engineering Fellow of the National Academy of Engineering in 2020, and awarded the Marine Technology Society’s Compass Distinguished Achievement Award in 2023. She has received generous funding support for the Bioinspiration Lab’s work from a number of funding organizations including the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, National Geographic Society, NSF, NOAA, Schmidt Ocean Institute, Dalio Philanthropies, Schmidt Marine Technology Partners, Sasakawa Foundation, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. In her spare time, Kakani enjoys life as a cat lady, advocates for planet-saving multi-modal transportation, and along with her husband and daughter, she likes to roam the outdoors and participate in random sporting events (e.g., figure skating, keg tossing, tobogganing, etc.).
